Singapore COE History: Policy Milestones and Price Records
Separate changes to COE rules from individual premium records, and read a timeline without assuming each policy caused the following price move.
A useful COE timeline distinguishes a change in the rules from a change in the auction result. A milestone can help explain what buyers faced at the time without proving that it caused the next rise or fall.
1990 and 1999: the system and its categories
The system began in 1990. The original category structure differed from the A–E structure introduced in 1999. Do not label all early small-car observations “Category A”, and do not date the five-category restructuring to 2002 or to the period after the global financial crisis.
2008: the $2 Category A exercise
The second November 2008 exercise closed at $2 for Category A. This is a dated auction result, not the system’s starting price. It also is not an investment purchase that could later be sold as a certificate at a six-figure premium.
2013: a high before later rule changes
Category A reached $92,100 in the first January 2013 exercise. When discussing that period, use the financing and category rules then in force. Current loan limits cannot be assumed to describe the 2013 measures.
2020: a suspension, not zero-priced exercises
No bidding exercises were held during April–June 2020; bidding resumed in July. Keep the gap visible and consult allocation announcements to understand how supply was subsequently offered.
2023 and 2026: distinguish category records
Category A exceeded $100,000 in the second April 2023 exercise, at $103,721. Category E reached $158,004 in the second October 2023 exercise, above that month’s earlier $152,000. Category A reached $133,009 in September 2026’s first exercise. These are different categories and dates, so a single undated “COE record” is ambiguous.
2024 announcement, 2025 release
The additional-injection announcement was made in October 2024 and provided for progressive release from February 2025. Keep an announcement date separate from an implementation date and a quota window. The same principle applies to tax cohorts and category reviews.
How to extend this timeline
Add a milestone only when there is a dated source and an explicit description of what changed. Record proposals as proposals. Link the next observed result, but avoid asserting a causal percentage response unless a separate study supports it.
Use exercise records to verify amounts. A timeline helps organise the evidence; it does not support a promise that premiums must recover, that future lows will rise or that a category review will make a particular car cheaper.
Sources and review date
Reviewed on 13 September 2026. Historical results retain their exercise dates; worked budgets are assumptions, not quotations.