This round’s story
Cat A vs Cat B spread narrows to $980
The Cat A and Cat B spread this round is $980. Last round it was $5,272. Over the past twelve months, that gap has ranged as wide as $21,489 and as narrow as $1,446. A sub-$1,000 gap is, by any recent measure, unusual.
| Category | Quota premium | Change from previous round | Quota, bids and PQP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cat A ≤1,600cc | $126,009 | ▲ +1.4% MoM | Quota 1,246 · Bids 2,076 June PQP $118,357 |
| Cat B >1,600cc | $126,989 | ▼ -1.9% MoM | Quota 889 · Bids 1,300 June PQP $121,218 |
| Cat C Goods/Bus | $94,000 | ▲ +1.9% MoM | Quota 293 · Bids 453 June PQP $82,868 |
| Cat D Motorcycle | $10,000 | ▲ +3.2% MoM | Quota 526 · Bids 594 June PQP $9,437 |
| Cat E Open | $129,000 | ▼ -0.8% MoM | Quota 261 · Bids 497 June PQP n/a |
Premium Trend · All 5 Categories
What this could mean
The Cat A and Cat B spread this round is $980. Last round it was $5,272. Over the past twelve months, that gap has ranged as wide as $21,489 and as narrow as $1,446. A sub-$1,000 gap is, by any recent measure, unusual.
What makes it stranger is the direction each category moved. Cat A rose 1.4% to $126,009. Cat B fell 1.9% to $126,989. They converged from both sides simultaneously, which is less common than one category chasing the other. One read of this is that Cat A demand has a structural floor that Cat B does not. Cat A covers cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp, and buyers in that bracket often have fewer practical alternatives. Someone who needs an affordable family car cannot simply switch to a used 3-Series. Cat B buyers, by contrast, may have more flexibility, including the option to wait or to look at the used market. That asymmetry could explain why Cat A keeps pressing upward even as Cat B softens.
Or it could just be one noisy month.
The bid-to-quota ratios are worth sitting with. Cat A came in at 1.67, which reads as genuine demand pressure. Cat B was 1.46, still healthy but below the 1.5 threshold that typically signals real tightness. Cat C was 1.55. The spread between Cat A’s ratio and Cat B’s ratio tells a similar story to the price spread: Cat A is being competed for more aggressively, relative to available quota.
Cat E at $129,000 sits above both Cat A and Cat B this round. Cat E carries no PQP of its own, because a car registered under Cat E is renewed under the category it actually belongs to. LTA publishes a PQP for Cat A, Cat B, Cat C and Cat D every month, but none for Cat E. Whether that structural difference is influencing how buyers and dealers treat Cat E COEs is hard to say from price data alone.
The COE results June 2026 first round have left Cat A and Cat B closer in price than they have been for most of the past year. Anyone budgeting on the assumption that Cat A is meaningfully cheaper than Cat B should probably revisit that assumption before the next round.
Next round of bidding: 17 June 2026
Looking ahead
The COE results June 2026 first round have left Cat A and Cat B closer in price than they have been for most of the past year. Anyone budgeting on the assumption that Cat A is meaningfully cheaper than Cat B should probably revisit that assumption before the next round.
Next round of bidding: 17 June 2026.