COE PREMIUMS for cars and trucks ended lower on Wednesday for the first time since January, braking a three-month run that pushed prices close to the $20,000 mark.

Motor traders said bookings for new cars were thin in the past two weeks, as buyers started to be put off by the higher premiums, as well as factors such as record fuel prices and the highest inflation rate in over two decades.

COE for cars up to 1,600cc (such as the newly-launched Toyota Corolla Altis) fell by 7.9 per cent to close at $15,600. COE for cars above 1,600cc (such as the new Honda Accord) ended 10.2 per cent lower at $17,510. The Open COE, used mainly for cars, finished 4.8 per cent lower at $18,451.

COE for commercial vehicles such as vans, trucks and buses dipped 4.0 per cent to end at $18,151.

The weaker prices were reflected in the lower number of bids submitted. For instance, only 2,197 bids were received for a supply of 2,036 up-to-1,600cc COEs - compared with 2,500 to 3,000 bids received in recent tenders. Bids were so weak that premiums stayed at $1 up to half an hour before tender closed at 4pm on Wednesday.

Motor traders saw the slowdown coming.

'Traffic in all major showrooms has dropped,' said Mr Vincent Ng, product manager at Honda agent Kah Motor. 'This can be attributed to high prices in last two, three months.

'But despite that, there are still enough people to sustain premiums at current levels.'

Mr Ng noted that 'buyers are more sensitive to price increases than a couple of years ago'.

Motor traders are expected to lower prices in line with the lower premiums.

The exception was motorcycle COE, which closed 13.8 per cent higher at $1,152.