How does COE bidding work?
The COE bidding system has been in its current open-bidding form since 2002. Two exercises run each month, almost always in the first and third weeks. Each exercise is a sealed-bid uniform-price auction, which means all winning bidders end up paying the same price: the lowest bid that still secured a COE in their category.
The schedule
Bidding opens on a Monday morning at noon and closes on the following Wednesday afternoon at 4 pm Singapore time. LTA publishes the schedule for each half year in advance.
How a bid works
Each bidder submits a single starting bid through their dealer, or directly through OneMotoring if registering as an individual. Starting bids begin at S$1, although in practice most bids open well above the most recent premium for that category to give themselves a chance. Bids can be revised upward at any time during the open window. Bids cannot be lowered.
When the window closes, LTA ranks all bids in each category from highest to lowest, then draws a line at the quota for that category. Everyone above the line wins a COE. Everyone below loses. Crucially, all winners pay the same price: the lowest bid that made it above the line. That figure is the COE premium published in the results.
Why does the price move?
Premiums move with the balance of demand and supply. If more bidders enter the exercise than there are quota slots, the cut-off bid rises. If demand is soft, it falls. The supply side is set by LTA's half-year quota, which is in turn driven by how many vehicles were de-registered in the previous year. See our quotas page for the long-run pipeline.
The five categories
- Cat A. Cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp.
- Cat B. Cars above 1,600cc, above 130bhp, or with electric output above 110kW. Most modern EVs sit here.
- Cat C. Goods vehicles and buses. One pool for all commercial vehicles.
- Cat D. Motorcycles.
- Cat E. Open category. Can be used to register any vehicle type. In practice it is bought almost exclusively by car dealers and tracks Cat B closely.
Each category has its own bidding exercise, its own quota, and its own clearing price. Our home page shows the latest premium across all five.