COE Category B: larger cars
Category B covers every car above the Category A limits. Latest result: $131,901 in the 2nd exercise of October 2026, read on 24 October 2026.
Exercises your price would have cleared, Cat B
12 / 24
Latest premium $131,901: your price is below it by $5,901
| Lowest premium, last 24 exercises | $105,001 |
| Median | $126,236 |
| Highest | $135,001 |
| Bid deposit taken by the bank | $10,000 |
| Bids per COE, latest exercise | 1.24 |
Past results only: no one can tell the next premium. Everyone who succeeds pays the same premium, not their reserve price.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · COE results read on 24 October 2026 (latest: 2nd exercise of October 2026)
The Category B premium was $131,901 in the 2nd exercise of October 2026, +$1,801 on the 1st exercise of October 2026, against $132,004 for Category A and $135,790 for the open Category E. Any car with an engine above 1,600 cc, or more than 97 kW of power, needs a Category B certificate; so does an electric car above 110 kW. In 10 of the last 12 exercises Category B cost more than Category A, and Category E closed at or above Category B in 11 of them. For a large car the ARF takes a much bigger share of the price: on a car with an OMV of $60,000 in VES band C1, the ARF is $93,500, 31% of the price before the dealer’s margin. The calculator above shows how often a given Category B reserve price would have won.
Category B and Category E over the last 12 exercises
| Exercise | Cat B | Cat E | B minus A | Cat B bids |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 (2) | $131,901 | $135,790 | −$103 | 1,149 |
| October 2026 (1) | $130,100 | $137,000 | +$99 | 1,126 |
| September 2026 (2) | $133,000 | $137,000 | +$1,110 | 1,135 |
| September 2026 (1) | $135,001 | $137,890 | +$1,992 | 1,333 |
| August 2026 (2) | $131,001 | $135,000 | +$2,500 | 1,316 |
| August 2026 (1) | $129,910 | $131,000 | +$6,020 | 1,316 |
| July 2026 (2) | $129,890 | $129,971 | +$3,890 | 1,365 |
| July 2026 (1) | $130,889 | $129,801 | +$1,889 | 1,500 |
| June 2026 (2) | $123,502 | $129,002 | −$345 | 1,202 |
| June 2026 (1) | $126,989 | $129,000 | +$980 | 1,300 |
| May 2026 (2) | $129,501 | $130,000 | +$5,272 | 1,469 |
| May 2026 (1) | $126,236 | $127,700 | +$1,446 | 1,332 |
The fourth column shows how far Category B closed above or below Category A in the same exercise. The two car categories share the same calendar and are often bid for by the same dealers, yet their premiums can part by several thousand dollars from one exercise to the next. Category E, in the third column, is the reference point for dealers who need flexibility.
Which cars need a Category B certificate
The rule is the mirror image of Category A. A petrol, diesel or hybrid car goes into Category B as soon as one of two limits is crossed: more than 1,600 cc of engine, or more than 97 kW of maximum power. A fully electric car goes into Category B above 110 kW. In practice that means most cars with a two litre engine, most turbocharged models with sporty tuning, large SUVs, people carriers and the more powerful electric cars.
Power is the limit people forget. Several hybrids combine a modest engine with an electric motor whose combined output passes 97 kW, and the importer’s type approval, not the brochure headline, sets the category. Check the figure before you commit to a model, or test it in the Category A checker.
Cost per year of a larger car
Cost per year over 10 years
$31,203
| OMV | $60,000 |
| Excise duty and GST | $18,480 |
| ARF after VES and EEAI | $93,500 |
| COE, October 2026 (2) | $131,901 |
For large cars, the ARF becomes a major part of the price
Take a car with an OMV of $60,000, a 1,998 cc engine and VES band C1. Its tiered ARF is $86,000, and the band C1 surcharge of $7,500 brings it to $93,500. Excise duty and GST add $18,480. With the Category B premium of $131,901, the car reaches $304,231 before the dealer’s margin. The ARF is 31% of that and the COE 43%. On the Category A car with half the OMV, the ARF is only 17% of the price, and the certificate takes most of the rest. The bigger the OMV, the more the tiered ARF grows, because each slice above $20,000 is taxed at more than its own value.
That has two consequences. A change in the Category B premium moves the price of a large car proportionally less than that of a small car. And the PARF rebate, which is a share of the ARF, matters more: under the rules for COEs obtained from February 2026, it is capped at $30,000, a cap a large car can reach. The ARF calculator shows each tier and the VES page the five bands.
A longer view
Category B averaged $124,306 over the 20 exercises held so far in 2026. Its highest result in the published series is $150,001, in the 2nd exercise of October 2023. Renewing a Category B car at ten years costs the Category B prevailing quota premium, which by our calculation is $131,819 for renewals in November 2026; half of that renews it for five years.
LTA is consulting on a new way to split cars between categories, aimed at separating mass market cars from higher value ones. Until it decides, the engine and power limits above remain the rule, and the calculators on this site apply them. When a new split is announced, this page, its table and the calculators change on the day of publication, and certificates already obtained follow whatever transition LTA sets.