Cars are cheap actually.

Let's say you buy a $100k car. You have $50k cash for downpayment. So you loan $50k over 5 years. You just need to pay $10k pa plus interest to be able to afford the car. If your family income is $100k pa, you have no problem owning a car. More than half of families in Singapore earn $100k pa, so not surprising why many families can afford new cars.

Another big reason is the cheap BTO flats. Because it is so cheap, families will just use their CPF to pay the loan so they have a lot of take home pay to pay for the car loan.

The days of $40k COEs are over. If you want to buy a car, just buy now. Don't be stupid to buy those $150k - $200k cars. You're just throwing away your money. Go for reliable $100k cars. There are many in the market. Don't be a snob.