Singapore ranks as 7th best place for autos sales

But it could not move up any further due to the strict regulatory environment.

Singapore accelerates to seventh place in BMI Research's auto sales index in 2017, thanks to its wealthy urbanised population.

It scored 59.3 out of 100 in the Autos Sales Risk/Reward Index, higher than the regional score of 49.1.

On a global scale, Singapore ranked 41st of 124 countries.

BMI found high rewards for auto companies in the country. It cited the country's highly urbanised population as good for autos sales, scoring it 99.6 points. Singapore's high GDP per capita and developed road networks also gave it a score of 94.3 and 99.6.

"Combined, these factors offer companies a well-developed market with a relatively affluent and highly urbanised population, which will be more likely to buy new vehicles," BMI said.

Moreover, the country was also found to have a low risk for auto sales.

It scored 84.5 out of 100 for the Risk category. Its favourable regulatory environment gave it 97.6 points, whilst low-long term political and operating risks scored it 87.4 and 99.2, respectively.

However, Singapore scored 0 for Vehicle Sales Growth. According to BMI, only the government's strict control on vehicle renewal determined car sales and created a cyclical nature for the market.

"This score highlights the highly cyclical nature of its automotive market whereby new car sales are determined by a strict, government controlled vehicle renewal regime which is entering a period of contraction over our 2017-2021 forecast period," they said.

Photo by Jacklee. - Own work., CC BY-SA 3.0