October round 2: Is a two-tier car market developing?

[Ahyoo2002]

from Carbuyer:

 

Mixed results for this week

[Ahyoo2002]

from Zaobao:

 

新一轮拥车证成价 中小型汽车组 下跌4598元

 

中小型汽车组（A组）的最新拥车证成功标价昨天显著下跌了将近30%，跌幅完全出乎市场意料之外。

 

　　昨天公布的最新一期拥车证投标结果显示，除了A组，其他车组的成价基本保持平稳，起落不大。

 

　　A组拥车证下挫了将近4600元，报1万2401元。大型及豪华汽车组（B组）稍微回弹至将近1万7600元，增幅不超过500元。公开组（E组）则保持不变。

 

　　过去三个月来节节攀升的货车和巴士组（C组）仍然

[Ahyoo2002]

from StraitsTime:

 

COE prices for smaller cars plunge

 

For cars up to 1,600cc, prices plunged by more than S$4,500 to close at an eight-month low of S$12,401.

Christopher Tan

 

Wed, Oct 17, 2007

The Straits Times

 

CERTIFICATE of entitlement (COE) for cars up to 1,600cc plunged by more than $4,500 to close at an eight-month low of $12,401 on Wednesday.

 

The unexpected result puts the mainstay car COE premium far below that for commercial vehicle COE, which climbed $1,900 to finish at a year-high of $15,889.

 

It is believed to be the first time a commercial vehicle COE has ended higher than a car COE.

 

Motor traders point to a weakened demand for cars - especially replacement demand - for the car premium drop.

 

"Buyers probably felt the (previous) $17,000 level was too high, and were waiting for rates to come down,'' said Mr Mark Choong, managing director of Toyota distributor Borneo Motors. "The PSLE exam period two weeks ago might also have kept many parents away from showrooms.''

 

Other motor traders said the slowdown in number of cars scrapped this year had also affected demand.

 

'Replacement demand is really, really down,'' said Mr A C Neo, marketing director of Nissan distributor Tan Chong.

 

He added that many car owners today have 'over-commtted' on the car loans, which means they cannot sell their cars without having to fork out a large sum to pay the bank.

 

'This over-commitment is really bad for the trade,'' Mr Neo noted.

 

The crunch came when Borneo Motors reduced prices of its bestselling Altis cars over the weekend by $2,500. Even then, there were not many takers.

 

The market weakness does not apply to bigger and more expensive cars, though. COE for cars above 1,600cc rose by nearly $500 to close at $17,589. Open COE, used mainly for bigger cars, ended unchanged at $18,000.

 

'This segment is less price-sensitive,'' Mr Choong said.

 

Motor traders attribute the surge in commercial vehicle COE to speculators, who are securing these transferable COEs in hope of making a fast buck reselling them.

 

The supply of commercial vehicle COE between now and March has been reduced substantially to reflect a big drop in the number of such vehicles taken off the road in the past six months.

 

Motorcycle COE ended $51 lower at $1,050.

 

Car dealers have cut prices of smaller cars. For instance, the Toyota Vios now starts from $53,488, $2,500 less than previously.

 

Traders expect premiums to rebound in the next round three weeks from now.

[Turbonetics]

so very likely the next round Cat A will shoot up a few grand after 3 weeks break and more people are attracted to buy Cat A cars due to the plunge recently.

[Ultramega]

big cars selling better than small cars.

 

the rich are getting richer and "poor" getting poorer?

[Ahyoo2002]

the cycle will just repeat itself, up and down, up and down

[Ahyoo2002]