[SINGAPORE] The number of private cars in Singapore is at its lowest since 2019, at 516,237 units. Rental cars, in contrast, have hit a record of 97,567 units.
This comes as high car prices nudge some who need a car only occasionally towards renting or hailing a ride instead of owning one.
While private car ownership continues to dominate, its share is slipping. As at the end of June, 79 per cent of the total car population of 653,442 units were privately owned, compared with 82.5 per cent in 2021, when the car population was 645,150 units.
Rental cars, on the other hand, are becoming increasingly common. They made up 10.5 per cent of the total car population in 2021, with 67,990 vehicles, but now account for 14.9 per cent of cars on the road.
The latest quarterly data released by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Jul 24 showed that within the rental car population, the number of cars used for ride-hailing, or chauffeured, services has dipped slightly.
Between the end of 2025 and June 2026, the number fell from 62,092 to 61,250.
Over the same period, the number of self-drive rental cars, which cannot be used to ferry paying passengers, increased from 33,765 to 36,317. These cars are used for short-term car-sharing services or longer-term leases.
The figures have raised questions about whether motorists are moving away from private car ownership.
In response to queries from The Straits Times on whether the statistics suggest that motorists are moving from private car ownership to alternative transport options, an LTA spokesperson said that more indicators need to be tracked over a period of time to study changes in commuter preferences.
These include trends in public transport ridership, point-to-point trips and other options such as shared cars and bicycles.
Associate Professor Walter Theseira, a transport economist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said that the high cost of buying a car means that for those who need to drive only occasionally, renting when they need one makes economic sense.
Adrian Lee, president of the Vehicle Rental Association, an industry body with 44 members accounting for more than 23,000 vehicles, said that demand for car rentals has been growing, but companies have been cautious not to grow too quickly.
A key concern is the uncertainty over how the prices of Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) will develop in future.
COEs are needed to register cars on the road; premiums in 2026 have cost between S$102,009 and S$130,889, compared with between S$65,010 and S$116,002 in 2024. Companies fear being caught with expensive cars if COE prices fall significantly later on.
One way companies alleviate their business risk is to convert existing private cars into self-drive rental cars, said Lee, who is also the co-founder of Tribecar, an online car-sharing platform.
He added that that the idea of short-term car rental is now an accepted alternative form of transport among younger people.
Sime Darby Auto Selection, the leasing arm of Malaysian-owned motor group Sime Darby, has increased its fleet by 10 per cent over the past 12 months to around 600 cars.
Its managing director, Christopher Chin, said that besides the growing acceptance of leasing, some customers are doing so while waiting for COE premiums to fall so that they can buy a car.
Lee said that a possible factor behind the slight shrinkage in the number of rental cars for ride-hailing services is the lock-in period imposed on such vehicles.
Introduced in February 2025, business-owned ride-hailing cars cannot be sold to individuals or be converted into private cars for three years. LTA said that the move was to ensure a more stable supply of cars that can be used to provide ride-hailing services.
Life without a car
Among consumers who have given up car ownership is Gordon Tiang, 51, whose last car was not replaced after its COE expired in 2025.
These days, the product engineer occasionally uses ride-hailing services, with part of his S$1,500 monthly savings going towards family holidays.
However, Tiang misses the convenience of having his own set of wheels for travelling to social gatherings and also the ability to drive across the border to Johor Bahru – something he used to do every three months or so.
Civil servant Joyce Lee, 45, gave up her family car in mid-2025, when she and her husband felt that their two sons, aged eight and nine, were old enough for the family not to need one.
Initially, they used a car-sharing service to take the children to school before switching completely to public buses and trains. Doing without the car allowed the family to save between S$1,500 and S$1,800 a month.
She said that the family is now used to not having a car, adding: “It does mean having to wake up earlier to set off in the morning, but public transport has really worked out for us so far.” THE STRAITS TIMES