Everyone knows new car prices have gotten out of hand, but some people have it a lot worse than others. Discrepancies in pricing from one market to another never cease to amaze us. Every now and then, we’re being reminded of how ludicrously expensive BMWs are in Singapore. Yes, the 2025 M2 costs the equivalent of about $383,000 (€354,000) at current exchange rates. In the local currency, the G87 retails for 506,888 Singapore dollars.
But why is the facelifted M2 so expensive? After all, you can snag one in the United States for just $66,000, making it roughly six times cheaper. This isn’t just a problem for the M2 or BMWs for that matter. New vehicles sold in Singapore are subjected to multiple taxes. There’s an Additional Registration Fee (ARF) based on a percentage of the car’s Open Market Value (OMV). Separately, a Vehicle Emissions Scheme (VES) brings another surcharge depending on how much harmful emissions the gas engine spits out.
But wait, there’s more. An Excise Duty adds a further 20% based on the OMV. After that, another 8% Goods and Services Tax is applied. To own and register a car in Singapore, you must bid to win a Certificate of Entitlement that expires after 10 years. The COE alone can cost six figures before the car’s asking price and all the other taxes we mentioned.
The M2 sold in Singapore comes with the automatic transmission but the stick shift is coming as well. BMW will sell an M2 Purist Edition with a six-speed manual. Pricing for the three-pedal model hasn’t been disclosed but it won’t be that much different compared to the G87 sold with the eight-speed Steptronic.
The next time Europeans complain about having to pay value-added tax (VAT) on a new car, perhaps they should see the glass half full. That said, more governments from EU countries are gradually increasing taxes on cars with high-displacement engines, so an M2 can cost a pretty penny on the Old Continent as well. However, Singapore still leads by a significant margin.
Source: BMW