If you think car ownership in the United States is getting expensive, pause and think about Singapore. According to Reuters, Singapore is the most expensive place in the world to buy a car. If you’re wondering, a new Mercedes GLE SUV starts at $447,783 (SGD 572,888) in Singapore, which is nearly $100,000 more than the base price of a McLaren 750S here in the U.S.
Singapore, being a small island nation, has land constraints. So the government employs a vehicle quota system — dubbed the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) — to control the number of vehicles on the road. A COE is initially secured through auctions (conducted twice a month) and lets you register a vehicle and use it for 10 years.
COE bids can be extraordinarily steep. According to the COE open bidding results published by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) on August 5, a Category A COE — issued for non-fully electric cars with engines up to 1,600cc and 130 bhp and EVs with no more than 147 bhp — costs $96,836 (SGD 123,890). Considering that the price of a Cat A COE hit a record high of $100,829 (SGD 129,000) in July 2026, you could say things have eased a bit.
Understanding the different COE categories
Singapore’s Vehicle Quota System (VQS) has five categories: Cat A, Cat B, Cat C, Cat D, and Cat E. While Cat A limits engine capacity and power (as mentioned above), Cat B applies to engines above 1,600cc producing more than 130 bhp, and EVs making over 147 bhp. As of this writing, the bid price of a Cat B COE is $101,540 (SGD 129,910). Cat C, issued for goods vehicles and buses, is priced at $71,553 (SGD 91,545), while Cat D — the permit you need to own and ride a motorcycle — is priced at $8,209 (SGD 10,503). Cat E is an open category (for all vehicles except motorcycles), and is currently priced at $102,392 (SGD 131,000). It’s worth pointing out that all COEs except Cat C and Cat E are nontransferable.
What if you want to keep the car after 10 years? For that, you’ll have to pay what’s called a Prevailing Quota Premium (PQP), which is basically the moving average of COE prices over the last three months. You’ll need to pay the PQP of your respective category before your COE expires to avoid attracting a late fee. That window, however, is quite short — one month, to be precise. Failing to renew the COE within a month of its expiry date will require you to dispose of the vehicle immediately.
Evidently, owning a car in Singapore is not cheap, but that hasn’t stopped people from applying for permits. In the most recent auction, the LTA received 1,522 bids for Cat A, 1,316 bids for Cat B, 591 bids for Cat D, and 443 bids for Cat E.
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