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News Column
COE UP
From $2 to $7,721
Tight credit lines act as brakes, even as small car premiums and dealer prices rise
Editor: Neo Chai Chin
chaichin@mediacorp.com.sg
It was largely expected: The $2 Certificates of Entitlement (COE) for small cars proved a fluke, as prices in that category yesterday rebounded to $7,721. The figure, though, is still the third-lowest since 2005.
A total of 3,149 bids were received for the 1,840 COEs on offer-a contrast to the last exercise on Nov 19, when the number of bids exceeded the quota by just one.
Prior to the $2 fluke, small-car COEs had gone for $10,455 early last month. The latest premium falls within the range of what car dealers expected, and they believe COE prices will hold stable until Chinese New Year.
"I think buyers are trying to get (their cars) before the festive season, so in the short term, COE prices should be around this (range)," said Mr. Neo Nam Heng, president of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association.
He reckoned that dealers would need two more months to bid for COEs, to clear all the orders placed in the last 2 weeks.
Dealers had slashed prices by up to $10,000 in the wake of the record low COE premium. But prices have inched up by a few thousand dollars since, moderated by market sentiment which is still relatively weak.
Mitsubishi, for example, plans to raise prices for cars below 1,600cc by $1,000 soon, after a recent increase of the same amount. "Prices won't go up drastically," said a spokeswoman for its distributor, Cycle & Carriage.
But demand is also dampened by another factor - full car loans are hard to come by from banks, with the ongoing credit crisis.
"Loan rejection rates are appalling - 30 to 40 per cent of the people (at our showrooms) could not get the full loans," said Mr Glenn Tan, group executive of Motor image Enterprises, Subaru's regional distributor.
"So I think that even with a bumper crop of people wanting to buying cars, the COEs have not gone to $10,000 or $15,000 because they cannot get loans."
COEs in the big cars, motorcycles and open categories also want up in yesterday's exercise. Prices for cars above 1,600cc rose from $4,889 to $6,501, while open category prices rose from $6,889 to $7,589. Motorcycle COEs rose slightly from $1,012 to $1,102. Only COEs in the goods vehicle and bus category fell, from $6,189 to $5,212.
Source: TODAY newspaper 4th December 2008. Thursday. Page 6.
Lifestyle Column: Hobby
BIG thrills on mini wheels
Latest craze of model-car drifting has fans splashing out on modifications
Editor: Kenny Chee
There are many reports about how people zhng (modify) their cars at a cost higher than their purchase price. But there's a new related fad that's taking car fans by storm - the modification of remote-controlled cars for the hobby known as drifting.
It takes after the Japanese sport of drifting using real cars, which started in the 1970s.
For the uninitiated, drifting is a motor sport that involves drivers forcing their cars into sideway slides at high speeds, through bends of a course. The wider the slide, the better.
Radio-controlled car drifting followed, with those in the Singapore community saying it emerged here around 2004. And it has picked up speed since.
According to Mr. Bai Zhi Rong 29- a plumber who set up one of the first major remote-controlled drifting communities here: SG Drifters-the number of drifters here has grown from less than 50 in 2004 to around 200 this year.
And drifters can spend thousands of dollars modifying their model cars to improve their performances. They buy parts from private importers, local model-kit distributors and online forums.
Why? Because of the adrenaline rush, of course.
Civil servant and drifter Wilson Lim 24 told my paper:"It's less dangerous and cheaper to drift using remote-controlled cars (compared to) real cars. But you get the same kick out of it."
He spent $1,000 on customizing his model car, which can now move faster when drifting.
Spectators are usually impressed too. When drifting videos of customized model cars are posted online, the number of hits can be huge.
One such clip - Remote Control Car Drifting in SG#1-posted on video-sharing website YouTube in 2006 has garnered nearly 860,000 view and 600 comments.
So, what led to the drifting hobby craze in Singapore?
Mr. Bai credited the hype around racing films, such as 2005's Initial D, for the increase in fans of drifting. The film was one of the highest-grossing Asian movies in 2005 after taking $2.5 million worldwide.
High-profile events like this year's inaugural Formula Drift Singapore Championship in April - which drew 11,000 people- helped too.
But more that the cars, the brotherhood that forms around the communities is important too.
Said Mr. Lim, who runs the Lorong Ah Soo radio-controlled drifting meet-ups at community halls: “At the end of the day, it's the common interest in drifting that bonds us."
Who the drifters are
The Big Spender
Who: Mr. Jonathan "Streyer" Wu, 26 a technology consultant.
How much he's spent on his car:
$1,500"
What he's done
Mr. Wu started out with a basic $300 model car in 2005, and upgraded it with top-of the range parts. "My car's chassis and controller are also nicer than others", he said.
Mr. Organiser
Who: Mr. Wilson Lim 24, a civil servant
How much he's spent on his car:
$1000.
What he's done.
The organizer of the Lorong Ah Soo radio-controlled drifting meet-ups, Mr. Lim-who has been drifting for 4 months-simply loves the hobby. He started out with a second-hand model car which he bought online for $150.
The Custom Dude
Who: Mr. Martin Loo 36, an engineer
How much he's spent on his car
$400
What he's done
The 2 year drifter took 2 months to put together a customized 6-wheeled truck modeled after Optimus Prime, a character from last year's movie. Transformers. His model won international praise online.
For more information on radio-controlled car drifting, visit http://www.sgdrifters.com/ and http://www.drccentral.com/
Dutch supercar roars into recession-hit Singapore
SINGAPORE, Dec 9 - For the truly wealthy, there's no such thing as a bad time to buy a supercar, even when the rest of the world is panicking about a global recession -- or so a Singaporean luxury car importer hopes.Hong Seh Motors last week formally launched its latest brand to sell to the city state's elite, Dutch supercar Spyker. Prices start from around $660,000 (1 million Singapore dollars).The marque will produce only about 100 hand-made cars in 2008 and the model put on display, a C8 Laviolette short-wheel base, exuded rarity with its burned almond orange paint work, polished aluminium air cooling ducts and single-hinged winged doors that pop open with a touch of a button.The rear-mounted 400-horsepower V8 engine can propel the 1.275 tonne all-aluminium car to 300 kilometres (186 miles) an hour."If you look at the type of client we sell cars to, it's people with a net worth of US$50 million-plus," Spyker's Asia-Pacific manager Martyn Schilte told Reuters in Singapore."There's no really good or really bad time to launch," he added before hopping into the C8 Laviolette's hand-stitched leather and polished aluminium interior to rev the engine."We're different. We're not looking at people who've just made a little bit of money," he said, pointing out each car takes, on average, 600 man-hours to assemble."We're selling to people who can take a hit, who like to enjoy life no matter what."Spyker makes three models, with two more going into production: the C8 Aileron and the D8 Peking-to-Paris super SUV, complete with 600 hp engine.Schilte says the factory in Holland plans to ramp up production to about 300 a year and says the design of the cars draws inspiration in part from aviation. The company first started in 1875 as a horse-carriage builder before merging with a Dutch aircraft maker during World War One.Schilte, who is based in China, said Singapore's booming sales of supercars over the past four years made it a key market. "It's a wealth centre," he said, adding the company planned to expand into Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Australia.Hong Seh managing director Edward Tan said the financial crisis will affect his business but believes the company next year will match 2008's sales of about 40 Ferraris and 100 Maseratis."People still need their toys," he said, adding he was still gauging interest in the Spyker marque before determining how many he could sell."There is still a market. People will still enjoy the cars and the luxury lifestyle because once you're used to it you don't get rid of it. Maybe you just buy less."Source:
Reuters - Tuesday, December 9
