Every now and then we are surprised at how ridiculously high car prices in Singapore are. But it’s not quite BMW’s fault. The biscuit crumbles in the island country and in the city state in Southeast Asia due to extremely high taxes. As I explained in an article last November about the M5 sedan, which costs the equivalent of 556,000 US dollars, it is a massive cost.
The certificate of claim (COE) is an approval that you have to buy by gaining an offer to maintain the legal right to drive the car for 10 years. The value changes depending on the demand, so that it can significantly increase the price tag of a car. Customers also have to pay an additional registration fee (ARF) that is directly related to the open market value of the vehicle (OMV). Since BMWs are already expensive from the start, this additional fee makes things worse.
As if that weren’t bad enough, Singapore applies a goods and service tax (GST) to imported vehicles. Then there is the vehicles (VES), which imposes higher fees for vehicles with higher infestation. In this way, a car with $ 775,888 in Singapore or about 598,711 US dollars costs current exchange rates.
It is almost six times more expensive than in the United States, where you can drive one for “Just” $ 125,275, provided you do not tick any cestes on the option list. Speaking of which M5 touring comes in Singapore with M composite brakes, so that the carbon ceramic setup costs extra. BMW does not mention colors, but we imagine that customers have to spend more for special colors from the individual catalog.
Despite the exorbitant price sign, BMW must have cracked the numbers and have come to the conclusion that it is still worth launching the M5 tour in Singapore. The m -occupation there is surprisingly diverse, including almost everything, from M135i to XM. Even the smaller M3 touring is available after it started in early 2023 for 560,888 Singapore dollars. That is 433,000 US dollars in today’s money.
