Cat A COE June 2026 opened with a result of $126,009 in the 1st bidding exercise, a 29.9% jump year-on-year and the sharpest gain across all categories this round. Cat B slipped slightly to $126,989, down from $129,501 in the previous exercise, while Cat E eased to $129,000. The divergence is worth paying attention to, because it suggests the two segments are responding to different pressures right now.
What the Cat A COE June 2026 result actually shows
A 29.9% year-on-year rise is not a small statistical blip, and that kind of move, sustained over a year rather than spiking in a single round, points to structural demand rather than a one-off squeeze.
Roughly where Cat A sat in June 2025. Twelve months later, buyers in the open market are paying nearly $30,000 more for the same certificate.
Cat A covers cars with engines up to 1,600cc and power output not exceeding 97kW. That bracket captures most of the mainstream Japanese and Korean models that dominate Singapore's private-car market, the Toyota Corolla Altis, Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Hyundai Avante and their near neighbours. These are the cars most first-time buyers and upgraders reach for, which means Cat A demand is a reasonable proxy for broad consumer appetite for car ownership.
When Cat A rises this steeply while Cat B holds relatively flat, one read of this is that the population of buyers who need a car is growing faster than the population of buyers who want a larger or more powerful one. Another read is that Cat A supply tightened more than Cat B supply this cycle. Both could be true at once.
Why Cat B and Cat E moved in the opposite direction
Cat B, which covers cars above 1,600cc or above 97kW, came in at $126,989 for the June 2026 1st exercise, down from $129,501 the previous round. Cat E, the open category that usually sits above the rest, landed at $129,000. The gap between Cat B and Cat E is now $2,011, and Cat A is within $980 of Cat B, which is about as tight as that spread ever gets.
A slight month-on-month dip in Cat B might reflect buyers pausing after a period of high premiums. Cat B COEs have traded above $140,000 for much of the past year, and at some point sticker fatigue sets in. Buyers who can stretch to Cat B might also be watching the parallel used-car market, where some Cat B vehicles with remaining COE are starting to look more competitive against a new-car purchase at these premium levels.
None of this means Cat B is softening in any durable way. A single round's movement of roughly $2,500 is within normal bidding noise.
The more telling signal is the direction: Cat A up, Cat B and Cat E slightly down, in the same exercise.
The supply side of the Cat A equation
LTA releases COE quota figures each bidding cycle, and Cat A quota has been under pressure for several years. The deregistration pipeline, which feeds new supply back into the quota pool, has not kept pace with the volume of certificates that were issued during the high-registration years of 2014 to 2016. Those ten-year COEs are now expiring, but the numbers are not large enough to meaningfully ease Cat A supply in the near term.
There is also a structural shift happening inside the Cat A bracket itself. Fully electric cars with maximum power output at or below 110kW qualify for Cat A, and several popular EV models sit just under that threshold. If EV buyers are bidding into Cat A at higher volumes than before, they compete directly with buyers of conventional small cars for the same pool of certificates. That added competition could be one reason Cat A has climbed faster than Cat B, where EV penetration at the higher power outputs is still relatively thin.
Still, the timing of the Cat A climb correlates reasonably well with the period in which affordable EVs started arriving in volume on Singapore roads.
What this means for buyers choosing between Cat A and Cat B right now
The gap between Cat A and Cat B COE premiums is currently about $980. A year ago, when Cat A was around $97,000 and Cat B was around $113,000, that gap was about $16,000. The collapse in the spread changes the economics of the choice in ways that might not be immediately obvious.
A buyer who was previously priced out of Cat B because the premium gap felt too large might now find Cat B relatively more attractive, not because Cat B has become cheaper in absolute terms, but because Cat A has closed some of the distance. Conversely, a buyer who was on the fence about whether to stretch from Cat A to Cat B might look at $126,989 and decide the additional outlay is not worth it for a slightly larger engine.
There is also a resale angle. Cat A cars tend to have a broader pool of potential buyers when the COE comes up for renewal or the car is sold with remaining COE. A higher entry-point COE premium does not automatically translate to higher resale value, but it does mean the replacement cost for the next owner has risen too, which could support prices in the used-car market for Cat A vehicles.
For buyers already in the market, the practical question is whether to bid now or wait. The June 2026 result suggests Cat A demand has not cooled, and there is no obvious near-term catalyst, such as a large deregistration cohort or a quota increase, that would reliably push premiums back down. Cat B's slight dip might continue for a round or two, or it might reverse. Neither outcome is certain.
What this means for your next car decision
If you are budgeting for a new car purchase, the Cat A COE premium at $126,009 should be treated as a baseline, not a ceiling. Premiums could move higher in the 2nd bidding exercise for June 2026, or they might ease slightly. Historically, consecutive rounds in the same month do not always move in the same direction.
One thing buyers might consider is the total cost of ownership calculation rather than the sticker price alone.
The running costs move with the category
A Cat A car at today's COE premium still carries a lower absolute COE cost than Cat B, but the running costs, insurance bands, and road tax for a smaller-engine car also tend to be lower.
Performance and space you will not use
For buyers who do not actually need the performance or space that a Cat B car offers, Cat A could still represent the more cost-efficient path even at $126,009.
If you already own the car
For buyers already owning a car and thinking about renewal or replacement, the current spread between Cat A and Cat B might be worth factoring into the timing of any decision. A workshop conversation about your car's condition and remaining value is often a useful starting point before committing to a new COE outlay.
If you want to talk through what the current COE results mean for your specific situation, the team at The Right Workshop is available at Autobay @ Kaki Bukit, Singapore #02-61. You can also follow the latest COE results on this site as each bidding exercise closes, and check the TRW blog for analysis as new rounds are released.
