Hur? Second hand car no buyers?

[SimonTan]

How can...its was so hot last few months....prices increased by second hand car dealers...sell one car can make super profit due to the COE increase!\

 

http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/...1-217713/2.html

 

 

 

 

>> ASIAONE / MOTORING / NEWS / STORY

 

 

 

 

 

 

On COE prices

 

COE prices hit a high of about $45,000 for

cars above 1,600cc and $49,000 for the open category last month, according to LTA statistics.

 

This is the highest since it began rising in

January.

 

Previously, the COE was hovering around

$20,000 for about six months before the rise.

 

The rise was due largely to a reduction in

COE quotas by LTA last month.

 

Motor traders and industry watchers had

said that COE prices are unlikely to hit prices seen in 1994, when premiums peaked at $110,000, reported The Straits Times last month.

For Mr Rahmat, his 18-member sales team at Car City, a parallel importer, has shrunk to just five people.

 

The company sells Japanese, Korean and continental cars.

 

There was a time when he was glad just to catch a 15-minute breather between attending to customers.

 

Now,walk-in customers are fewand far between. Said Mr Rahmat: "Our showroom used to be so packed, even the sales director would have to help attend to customers.

 

"Now, he can stay in his room because there are just so few customers. Many colleagues knew they just

couldn't survive in this industry any more and decided to change jobs."

 

Some have set up their own businesses while others have moved to the real estate industry hoping to earn

more, he said.

 

Mr Rahmat now spends his day chit-chatting with his colleagues while waiting for the occasional customer

to show up.

 

He considers himself lucky as his two grown children help to support the family.

 

"I have some savings and my children are working, so it's not so bad. But some of my colleagues have even

fallen into debt because they earn too little," he said.

 

Few customers

 

When The New Paper visited the Turf Club Automobile Emporium onTuesday, there were few customers.

 

Some dealers said the situation is the same on weekends.

 

Said Mr Rahmat, who was casually dressed with his shirt tucked out and unbuttoned at the top: "We used to wear ties and tuck our shirts in. But now, there's no point dressing up. There aren't any customers to serve."

 

Over at Alexandra, the situation at some of the spanking new showrooms was the same - few customers, many sales executives.

 

Car salesmen The New Paper spoke to said they typically earn a basic salary, but rely on sales commission for the bulk of their income.

 

A sales executive, who wanted to be known only as Ms Lim, said: "If I'm lucky, I can sell one car a month

now. But I have colleagues who have not sold a single one in a few months.

 

"Customers now think thrice, even four times before buying a car, whereas before they used to make quicker

decisions and doless homework."

 

The number of new cars registered fell by 29,000 - from about 97,000 in 2008 to just 68,000 last year, according to the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) website.

 

The used car market, on the other hand, has grown.

 

In the first three months of this year, 25,754 vehicles changed hands, up from 19,704 in the same period last

year, according to a Straits Times report last month.

 

Mr Damien Lim, 34, an IT manager, was one of those who chose to buy a second-hand car over a new

one.

 

"I got my Honda Stream within two weeks and I avoided the disappointment of not getting a COE, especially

when prices were going through the roof," he said.

 

Mr Lim paid $65,000 for his three-year-old car. A new one costs about $90,000 including COE.

 

Professor Paul Barter, an urban transport analyst, said it's unlikely COE prices will return to as low as they

were before.

 

He said: "With the supply of COE down and the demand of cars remaining constant, prices naturally rise.

 

"And if the economy continues to do well, the high COE prices look set to stay for awhile. Or at least until

people become discouraged at the high COE prices and switch to public transport."

 

This article was first published in The New Paper.

 

 

 

[Beehive3783]

who the flying fart is Paul Barter?

[Shanhz]

read carefully lah.. this article talking about PI, which have got hit since they sell NEW cars