SINGAPORE - Car buyers in Singapore will now need to fork out almost US$100,000 for a certificate to own a small car, as costs under the city-state’s vehicle quota system hit an all-time high on Wednesday.
Singapore regularly auctions a fixed number of “certificates of entitlement” allowing car ownership for 10 years, which helps limit the number of vehicles on the road to about 1 million. The city-state has a population of 6.1 million people and it can be traversed by car in less than an hour.
The auctions have made Singapore the most expensive city in the world to buy a car.
Certificate prices for small vehicles, or those with engine capacity below 1.6 litres, have quadrupled from pre-pandemic levels, with no signs of abating.
Answering parliamentary questions in May about the rising prices, Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said demand remained strong due to competitive electric car prices, while the availability of smaller vehicle certificates at auctions was declining.
The price of a certificate alone is now equivalent to the cost to buying four Toyota Corollas in the United States. The same vehicle in Singapore, with the certificate, registration fees and taxes, would cost S$180,000 (US$139,000).
By comparison, the median annual household salary in the city-state is S$149,352, while a small, government-subsidised flat costs upwards of S$139,000.
In October 2023, when certificates for larger cars crossed the US$100,000 mark, those for smaller cars were about $77,500. Prices have steadily risen since then.
Many carmakers detune engines of popular models for the Singapore market so their cars qualify for the cheaper certificate.
