What is different about automotive in Singapore
Vehicle sales in Singapore hinge on the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system administered by the Land Transport Authority (LTA): a buyer cannot register a car without winning a COE bid in that category, so a dealership pipeline should track COE bid status and category (A, B, C for different vehicle classes) as its own stage, since a deal can stall for weeks waiting on a bidding result regardless of financing readiness. Used-car dealers also track a vehicle's remaining COE period, which directly sets its resale value.
Enquiries come through classifieds platforms like sgCarMart, direct dealership visits and referrals rather than WhatsApp by default. Sales invoices carry a GST number at 9%. Customer and financing data follows PDPA. COE bidding results are published twice a month and directly drive buyer urgency and price sensitivity around those dates, and Chinese New Year sees a short pause in showroom footfall followed by a rebound as buyers look to register a vehicle before the year's first bidding exercise.
Set up your CRM for Singapore automotive teams
- Track COE bid category and result status as a required stage on every vehicle deal.
- Record remaining COE period on used-vehicle listings, since it sets resale value directly.
- Time purchase-urgency follow-up messages around the twice-monthly COE bidding result dates.
