Changes to COE: Government includes car engine power to categorisation

As announced today by the Minister for Transport, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has completed the public consultation on possible refinements to the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system to better ensure some element of social equity in car ownership.

After careful consideration, LTA said it will retain the existing criterion for Category (Cat) A that the engine capacity of the car should not exceed 1,600 cylinder capacity (cc), and add a new criterion that the engine power of the car should not exceed 97 kilowatts (kW) (equivalent to about 130 brake horsepower (bhp).

LTA said it will not implement a surcharge on multiple car ownership, in view of concerns over its effectiveness and possible impact on larger households.

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The C180K and 116i will be facing a massive drop in sales coming Feb'14 going by this new rule. However, it is also possible for car makers to detune their cars to 130BHP or below. After all the hassle and discussion, more is expected from LTA. This change is probably not going to do much to the sky high COE prices. We shall see next Feb. For now, enjoy the rush of buyers going for the models listed above, creating a rocketing Cat A COE premium.