This round’s story
Cat A vs Cat B spread narrows to $1,110
Cat E at $137,000 is sitting $4,000 above Cat B this round. That gap is easy to overlook when most buyers are focused on Cat A versus Cat B, but it has a structural explanation worth knowing. Cat E is the open category: no engine or power ceiling, and a COE registered under Cat E is renewed under whichever category the car actually belongs to, so LTA publishes no PQP for it. It moves purely on what the market will bear, with no renewal-cost anchor pulling it back down. A $4,000 premium over Cat B, for a category that offers no renewal advantage over a standard Cat B COE, is one reading of how tight overall supply has become.
| Category | Quota premium | Change from previous round | Quota, bids and PQP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cat A ≤1,600cc | $131,890 | ▼ -0.8% MoM | Quota 1,193 · Bids 1,507 October PQP n/a |
| Cat B >1,600cc | $133,000 | ▼ -1.5% MoM | Quota 927 · Bids 1,135 October PQP n/a |
| Cat C Goods/Bus | $92,144 | ▼ -1.0% MoM | Quota 318 · Bids 532 October PQP n/a |
| Cat D Motorcycle | $12,201 | ▼ -2.8% MoM | Quota 522 · Bids 605 October PQP n/a |
| Cat E Open | $137,000 | ▼ -0.6% MoM | Quota 269 · Bids 431 October PQP n/a |
Premium Trend · All 5 Categories
What this could mean
Cat E at $137,000 is sitting $4,000 above Cat B this round. That gap is easy to overlook when most buyers are focused on Cat A versus Cat B, but it has a structural explanation worth knowing. Cat E is the open category: no engine or power ceiling, and a COE registered under Cat E is renewed under whichever category the car actually belongs to, so LTA publishes no PQP for it. It moves purely on what the market will bear, with no renewal-cost anchor pulling it back down. A $4,000 premium over Cat B, for a category that offers no renewal advantage over a standard Cat B COE, is one reading of how tight overall supply has become.
Cat E quota dropped by 31 this round, the sharpest supply cut of any category. Bids fell too, by 82, but the ratio still came in at 1.60. A bid-to-quota ratio above 1.5 is generally read as real demand rather than thin participation, so the price holding near $137,000 despite the quota cut is at least consistent with that picture. Whether the quota reduction is a one-round adjustment or a signal of a longer LTA supply tightening, we cannot say with confidence.
Elsewhere, prices eased across every category. Cat A fell 0.8% to $131,890, Cat B fell 1.5% to $133,000, Cat D dropped 2.8% to $12,201. The Cat A versus Cat B spread narrowed to $1,110 this round from $1,992 last round. Over the past 12 months that spread has ranged from $345 to $20,890, so the current compression is at the tighter end of that window, though not the tightest it has been.
On renewals: with this being the second bidding round of September, the October 2026 PQP figures are now fixed. Cat A owners renewing in October face a PQP of $128,715; Cat B is $131,615; Cat C is $92,614; Cat D is $11,161. For November 2026, four of the six rounds that set the PQP are already locked, averaging $129,322 for Cat A and $132,228 for Cat B. The two October rounds decide the rest.
Next round of bidding: 7 October 2026
Looking ahead
On renewals: with this being the second bidding round of September, the October 2026 PQP figures are now fixed. Cat A owners renewing in October face a PQP of $128,715; Cat B is $131,615; Cat C is $92,614; Cat D is $11,161. For November 2026, four of the six rounds that set the PQP are already locked, averaging $129,322 for Cat A and $132,228 for Cat B. The two October rounds decide the rest.
Next round of bidding: 7 October 2026.