CERTIFICATES of entitlement (COE) prices ended higher across the board in the first tender of the new quota year, which has a small supply of COEs.

COE for bigger cars (above 1,600cc) emerged as the costliest, finishing at $19,501, followed by $19,389 for the Open COE.

The commercial vehicle COE was not far behind, climbing to $18,900. All three classes of COEs chalked up increases of between 2.6 and 7.3 per cent.

But it was the COE for cars with engine sizes up to 1,600cc that posted the biggest rise among four-wheelers. It climbed 10 per cent to close to $16,930, despite fewer bids submitted.

'People were expecting premiums to rise because of the smaller quota, and therefore they put in more aggressive bids,' said Mr Mark Choong, managing director of Toyota distributor Borneo Motors.

Looking ahead, industry players expect car premiums to continue trending upwards and breaching the $20,000 mark by June or so. But Mr Choong said there is a wild card to this forecast.

'If the Government's campaign to get people to use public transport more succeeds tremendously, demand for cars will dip,' he said, adding that higher electronic road-pricing and parking charges are already making new buyers 'think harder before committing to a car'.

Car prices are being raised to reflect the new COE premiums. In fact, Honda agent Kah Motor increased its car prices by around $1,000 before Wednesday's tender closed at 4pm.

Meanwhile, the COE for motorcycles ended 12.3 per cent higher at $1,012.