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Singapore With
only 3066 km of road network, and literally all of it within city
limits, Singapore wouldn’t seem to have the ingredients to be a
driver’s paradise. Yet
the Lion City does quite well, in the sense that order and smooth flow
reign at all times—rush hour here can still be called rush hour! The
city does this by keeping the number of cars strictly limited.
Singapore requires any potential car owner to cough up cash for a
Certificate of Entitlement, which is basically the right to buy a car.
This usually costs USD16,000 to 22,000.
This is on top of the already exorbitant prices that dealers
charge, also due mainly to government taxes.
Have your eye on that new Civic, sir?
That’ll be USD 60,000 please.
How about a brand-new Corolla, ma’am?
Just USD 50,000. Despite
these prices, Corollas and Civics hardly dominate the roadways.
Rather, new Merc S-class sedans (around USD180,000)
and BMW 7-series (USD 190,000) charge around the city. Based on
our informal scouring of the roads, another popular car is the Lexus
IS200 (USD 88,000). The
combination of striking looks and the Lexus badge is proving to be
irresistible to our Sing yuppies. Singaporeans
apparently subscribe to the European idea of a good car: a large
premium-badged barge, or sports saloon with a powerful engine. Badge
worship seems to be quite prevalent in this town, with most of the
prestige brands well-represented in traffic.
Still, cars that offer value for money are still the
best-sellers. The 2001 Nissan Sentra is the best-selling car in
Singapore, moving about 9500 copies per year.
It retails for USD43,300, and its main weapons in the compact
wars against the Corolla and Civic is a bigger size and additional
interior features. Singapore
roads are smooth and well-paved, so sensibly most Singaporeans have
stayed away from large SUVs and pick-up trucks.
You’d still see compact SUVs like the CRV but they’re nowhere
near as popular as they are in Manila.
There’s still the odd Range Rover here and there, and should
you want to try out your 4x4’s capabilities, you can drive over the
border to Malaysia, where 4x4 trails abound and mud-plug to your
heart’s content. There are hardly any twisty or entertainingly treacherous roads here. The only treachery comes from street names. Streets are confusingly named, with Orchard Road, Orchard Drive and Orchard Link Road all clumped together in one area. |
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