The upcoming 3.6 per cent bump-up in the COE supply may have spurred buyer action, say dealers.

The Omoda E5 was among the new electric SUVs to debut at The Car Expo in October. It is built by Chinese brand Chery. PHOTO: DERRYN WONG, BT

CAR dealers ran up better sales at The Car Expo held earlier this month than in the April edition of the twice-yearly event, with business boosted by new China entrants to the market and continued interest in electric vehicles (EVs) and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

Though Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums were higher in October than in April, an expected fall in premiums – when the COE supply goes up from November – may also have spurred buyers, said dealers.

The automotive consumer show on Oct 5 and 6 was organised by SPH Media, which publishes a stable of newspapers, including The Business Times.

The show featured 43 brands and 40 booths, up from 41 brands and 34 booths at the April one.

Representatives of most car brands who spoke with BT said sales were good, but declined to give specific figures.

Ng Choon Wee, the commercial director for Hyundai distributor Komoco Motors, said there were fewer visitors to the show than in April, but more shoppers followed through on purchases.

Representatives from Singapore's top-selling brands Toyota, BYD, Mercedes-Benz and BMW said they were satisfied with their sales performance at the show. These brands collectively accounted for more than half of all new passenger-car registrations in the first nine months of 2024.

Komoco's Ng said: “Everyone said they did the expected volume, except BYD. Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-Benz did well; some of the China brands also collected a notable number of orders.”

Anthony Teo, managing director of BYD distributor and dealer Vantage Automotive, said his dealership collected slightly fewer orders than in April.

But many expressions of interest (EOIs) came in for its forthcoming BYD M6 multipurpose vehicle. These EOIs are likely to translate into orders.

Customers who make an EOI pay a refundable fee, typically around S$1,000, to be wait-listed for a car, although it is not an actual purchase agreement.

COE hope

Cars are typically sold as a package including COE, with prices based on premiums from the latest round.

In the last COE bidding exercise before the October show, premiums were S$98,524 for Category A mainstream cars, and S$110,001 for the larger, more powerful cars in Category B. This was up from S$89,000 and S$101,334, respectively, in April.

However, October sales may still have been buoyed by buyers' expectations of lower future premiums, said dealers.

Typical purchase contracts give dealers six rounds of COE bidding – or three months – to secure the car and COE package at the agreed price. If the premiums end up higher, buyers must top up the difference.

But if premiums are lower, the buyer pays less – and buyers may be counting on this.

Vantage's Teo said that with COE quotas set to rise, customers may be anticipating a fall in premiums.

Higher COE quotas for the next three-month period, November 2024 to January 2025, were announced on Oct 4. The Category A quota went up by 5.6 per cent to 6,190, and the Category B quota rose 2 per cent to 4,060.

Jason Lim, the managing director of BMW dealer Eurokars Auto, said: 'There are many car owners who have two years or less of the COE lifespan on their cars. I think some of them are tired of waiting, so getting a good deal at a consumer show is a less painful way of dealing with high COE premiums now.”

With a larger COE supply and expanded car market, the expectation had been for lower COE premiums, with supply having been increased throughout 2024.

Total new car sales in 2024 are expected to breach 40,000, up from 30,225 in 2023, as a result of an increased COE supply. But with strong demand and more COE revalidations, COE premiums have been on an upward trend since March.

Great wallbox of China

Buying interest has also been driven by the influx of novel China brands and models, many of which are in line with the shift in demand towards EVs and SUVs.

Sabrina Sng, managing director for Lotus, Polestar and Insurance at dealership group Wearnes Automotive, noted more new brands and models at October's show.

"When there are new car launches, they drive consumer interest and bump up demand," she added.

Five brands made their first appearance at the October show – Dongfeng, GAC Aion, Omoda, Smart, Xpeng, Zeekr. All are Chinese brands that arrived in Singapore in the last eight months, and all but Dongfeng have full-electric SUV models that went on show at the expo.

GAC Aion debuted in Singapore in April, and was on display in both runs of this year's show. A spokesperson for the brand's distributor, Vincar EV, told BT that October show orders for its Y Plus SUV were “much better” than April's.

Vincar added that a "favourable number" of EOIs were taken up for two SUVs it previewed at the show: the Hyptec HT, a spacious model with gull-wing doors, and the GAC Aion V, a competitor to the popular BYD Atto3.

Even without an electric SUV, however, Dongfeng pulled in healthy interest. It is the latest China brand to enter Singapore, debuting with distributor Volt Auto in September. A spokesperson for Volt Auto said that it collected around 40 EOIs for its Box hatchback at the show.

But trends aside, buyers at such shows are ultimately after good bargains, said Eurokars' Lim.

"We saw stronger sales for our SUV models, both in petrol and EV variants. But I think in the end, consumers want an enticing promotion. It's all down to offering a strong package, including the finance, trade-in and insurance, together.”

Source: The Business Times