This round’s story
Cat D climbs +11.1%
Cat E has now risen for six consecutive rounds. That streak is worth sitting with for a moment, because Cat E is structurally different from every other category: it carries no PQP of its own. A car registered under Cat E is renewed under the category it actually belongs to, so LTA publishes a PQP for Cat A, Cat B, Cat C and Cat D every month, but none for Cat E.
| Category | Quota premium | Change from previous round | Quota, bids and PQP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cat A ≤1,600cc | $133,009 | ▲ +3.5% MoM | Quota 1,195 · Bids 1,708 September PQP $126,208 |
| Cat B >1,600cc | $135,001 | ▲ +3.1% MoM | Quota 934 · Bids 1,333 September PQP $128,697 |
| Cat C Goods/Bus | $93,101 | ▲ +3.4% MoM | Quota 310 · Bids 565 September PQP $92,907 |
| Cat D Motorcycle | $12,556 | ▲ +11.1% MoM | Quota 514 · Bids 657 September PQP $10,366 |
| Cat E Open | $137,890 | ▲ +2.1% MoM | Quota 300 · Bids 513 September PQP n/a |
Premium Trend · All 5 Categories
What this could mean
Cat E has now risen for six consecutive rounds. That streak is worth sitting with for a moment, because Cat E is structurally different from every other category: it carries no PQP of its own. A car registered under Cat E is renewed under the category it actually belongs to, so LTA publishes a PQP for Cat A, Cat B, Cat C and Cat D every month, but none for Cat E.
This round, Cat E closed at $137,890, up 2.1% from $135,000 last round. Cat A came in at $133,009 and Cat B at $135,001. That puts Cat E sitting $2,889 above Cat B, a gap that has been widening quietly while attention has stayed on the A/B spread. The A/B spread itself narrowed slightly to $1,992 from $2,500 last round, well inside the 12-month range of $345 to $20,890, so there is nothing particularly dramatic there this time.
What is harder to explain cleanly is why Cat E demand held firm even as LTA added 46 quota slots this round, the largest single-category quota increase of the round. More quota usually softens prices. Cat E received 513 bids against that expanded quota of 300, a bid-to-quota ratio of 1.71. A ratio above 1.5 generally reads as real demand rather than thin participation. One possibility is that buyers who want a transferable COE are willing to pay the Cat E premium regardless of modest quota adjustments. Or it could be that the seven-round streak is partly self-reinforcing: buyers who expect prices to keep climbing bid earlier and higher. We cannot say with confidence which of those is doing more work.
Cat D is also on a six-round consecutive rise, reaching $12,556 this round, the highest in the 24 rounds on record here. Its bid-to-quota ratio came in at 1.28, closer to the 1.2 threshold that reads as thinning demand. Whether that softening in participation slows the streak next round is one of the cleaner data points to watch.
Cat A at $133,009 is also a 24-round high. Its bid-to-quota ratio of 1.43 sits below the 1.5 threshold, yet prices still moved up 3.5%. Cat A covers cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp, a segment where buyers have fewer alternatives than Cat B, which could explain why price keeps moving even when the ratio does not look especially hot.
Next round of bidding: 23 September 2026
Looking ahead
Cat A at $133,009 is also a 24-round high. Its bid-to-quota ratio of 1.43 sits below the 1.5 threshold, yet prices still moved up 3.5%. Cat A covers cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp, a segment where buyers have fewer alternatives than Cat B, which could explain why price keeps moving even when the ratio does not look especially hot.
Next round of bidding: 23 September 2026.