FUELLED by aggressive bids from Uber, prices of certificates of entitlement (COEs) for cars ended higher yesterday, despite a prospect of a bigger quota two weeks from now.

COE premium for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp ended 2.8 per cent higher at $47,300.

That for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp finished 5.5 per cent higher at $49,602.

The Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type but ends up mostly for bigger cars, closed 4.2 per cent higher at $49,501.

Checks by The Straits Times revealed that Uber-owned Lion City Rental submitted 630 bids in the three categories, and succeeded in obtaining 510 COEs.

In the previous tender, it secured 270 COEs from 810 bids submitted.

Uber's COEs yesterday constituted 14 per cent of total successful bids in the three categories - a disproportionately high percentage for a newcomer which entered the market barely four years ago.

Industry watchers said upward pressure on bids may also come from other private-hire companies such as Grab and SMRT's new outfit, Strides.

Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, said: "Everybody is focusing on private-hire cars now. That is why premiums should have dropped but have not dropped."

He added that besides Uber, other private-hire players are waiting to secure COEs to grow their fleets. "But over the longer term, with more COEs on the way, there should still be enough COEs for consumers," he noted.

Meanwhile, the commercial vehicle COE cost fell by 2.7 per cent to close at $43,002.

The motorcycle premium was flat at $6,501, just $2 lower than its previous price two weeks ago.

Overall, a total of 7,203 bids were submitted, 11 per cent fewer than two weeks ago.

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据《日经亚洲评论》报道，Uber科技公司正帮助新加坡的潜在私家车主获得高达汽车价格80%的汽车贷款，通过缓解该国私家车保有成本高的问题，扩大其打车软件的服务覆盖网络。

据《日经亚洲评论》报道，Uber科技公司正帮助新加坡的潜在私家车主获得高达汽车价格80%的汽车贷款，通过缓解该国私家车保有成本高的问题，扩大其打车软件的服务覆盖网络。

要获得Uber的高额汽车贷款，汽车购买者必须通过与Uber合作的经销商购买车辆，并在新加坡陆路交通管理局将车辆登记为用于出租。这样的车辆才可以通过Uber软件载客。Uber为新车提供高达车价80%的贷款，为二手车提供70%的贷款。

在新加坡，购买汽车要交纳高额的进口关税、所有权证书费用以及其他费用。这使得在新加坡购买一辆新车的价格比日本高出两倍以上。而且，按照新加坡法律规定，购买私用汽车必须要交纳至少40％的头期款，剩下的60%才可贷款。而Uber通过帮助司机绕开种种法规限制，让那些以前没有能力购买车辆的人们通过其应用程序提供载客服务，提高其服务在新加坡的可用性。

目前，Uber在亚洲的扩张遭遇了顽强抵抗，因为一般出租车司机害怕Uber的发展会导致他们失业。马来西亚、印尼等国家首都爆发了大规模的司机游行，他们要求禁止Uber基于智能手机的打车软件在他们国家运行。这些游行活动已迫使警方采取行动，然而，Uber在新加坡的最新计划表明，该公司并没有放弃其在亚洲地区扩张的打算。

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