SINGAPORE - Cars with engine power output exceeding 97kW (130 brake horsepower) will be classified under Category B in Certificate of Entitlement (COE) bidding exercises starting February 2014, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew announced this morning.
This new set of categorisation comes on top of the existing Category A criterion that the engine capacity of a car should not exceed 1,600cc.
This means that car models such as the Mercedes Benz C180 (engine power 115kW) and BMW 118i (125kW) and the Mini Cooper S (135kW) will be grouped together with bigger cars.
The criteria will be reviewed every few years to keep pace with market trends and technology improvements.
The new categorisation criteria comes as the Land Transport Authority seeks to better delineate mass market cars from premium cars.
Public, industry and academic feedback were sought from May to July.
The LTA will not implement a multiple car surcharge on owners with more than one car as there are many loopholes which buyers could take advantage of to circumvent such a policy.
Instead, it will leverage on other measures outside of the COE system, such as tiered vehicle taxes, to further address social equity.
Other suggestions such as a Pay-As-You-Bid system and banning car dealers from the bidding process, which were popular suggestions during consultation, will also not be implemented.
Article by Sumita D/O Sreedharan
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