\n<\/p>\n
Andre Lee bought a used Kia Forte to boost his career as an insurance agent in Singapore. In his mind, he saw himself zipping across town in his black coupe, impressing potential clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the same as being dressed in formal wear with leather shoes, or wearing a Rolex,\u201d Mr. Lee, 33, said of the two-door car he bought in 2020.<\/p>\n
Mr. Lee paid $24,000 for the 2010 model, about five times what the car would have been listed<\/a> for in the United States. Why the markup?<\/p>\n Singapore, an island city-state that is smaller than New York City, charges drivers thousands of dollars just for the right to buy a vehicle. The price of the permits, which were introduced in 1990 to limit pollution and congestion, rises with a car\u2019s value.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The price Mr. Lee paid for his car, including the permit, was on the cheaper side. Some drivers pay as much $84,000 for the 10-year document, known as a certificate of entitlement.<\/p>\n \u201cI know of people who treat their vehicles better than their family because it costs more to maintain a car than a family sometimes,\u201d Mr. Lee said. (His own family lent him money for the Kia.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n There is little reason for many Singaporeans to own a car. Most residents rely on an expanding<\/a> and affordable public transportation system that stretches across the island. Even long journeys cost less than 2.50 Singapore dollars, or about $2, and ride-hailing platforms<\/a> such as Grab are plentiful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Still, twice a month, aspiring car-owners and dealers bid for a fixed number of permits determined by the Singaporean authorities.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s decades-long campaign to limit car ownership has worked: There are about 11 passenger vehicles per 100 people there, well below an estimated 82 cars and trucks in the United States<\/a> and 67 in Italy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Singapore is not the first to tax cars as part of efforts to tackle pollution and traffic. In 1989, Mexico City started regulating how many cars circulate daily. London and Stockholm later introduced congestion pricing. New York City followed this year, becoming the first<\/a> in the United States to do so.<\/p>\n But none of those cities charge drivers as much to own a car.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The most expensive permit in Singapore rose about 18 percent to more than $84,000 in March<\/a> from a year earlier. But rising costs don\u2019t appear to have deterred sales. The government<\/a> raised $4.86 billion from permit sales in the 2024 fiscal year, almost 40 percent more than it had estimated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n For the wealthiest residents of Singapore, which is home to a rising number of billionaires, shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for a car permit is not a big deal.<\/p>\n