M Salahuddin, chairman of Bangladesh Automobiles Distributors Association (BADA), organiser of the carnival, said the fair has been a grand success in boosting new car market in Bangladesh.

Based on the success of the show, BADA has decided to make it an annual event.

"The next exhibition will be held in February, 2004, in a bigger way. In addition to the current venue at the China-Bangladesh Friendship Conference Centre, the fair area may be expanded to include the adjacent trade fair compound and the National Parade Ground to accommodate more distributors and car models," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

The show was the first leap towards popularising new cars by informing buyers that the prices have come within the reach of middle-class people due to duty and tax restructuring measures adopted in the current national budget, Salahuddin, also a director of MAM Automobiles Ltd, said.

He said distributors received around 230 confirmed bookings at the fair which reflect buyers' interest in new cars.

"About 10,000 to 12,000 people came to the fair each day of the seven-day fair, including complimentary guests. Till noon yesterday, over 50,000 tickets were sold," the BADA chairman said.

BADA organised the fair to showcase new models of world's leading automobile manufacturers. The exposition began on Wednesday in Dhaka.

The show was scheduled to conclude on Sunday but it was extended by another two days amid huge response.

Anwarul Islam Tareq, director of Navana and coordinator of the fair, said the fair will help increase sale of new cars as buyers now know that the price of new cars is not so high.

Exhibitors at the fair said buyers are more inclined to buy small family cars at affordable prices. The cars which got the most bookings are Proton Waja priced at Tk 12.75 lakh, Proton Satria Gti priced at Tk13.85 lakh, Alfa Romeo having a price tag of Tk 22 lakh, FIAT Siena at Tk 7.5 lakh.

According to sellers at the fair, the other popular brands are Suzuki Liana (Tk 8.35 lakh), Suzuki Ignis (Tk 10.50 lakh), WagonR of Maruti-Suzuki (Tk 5.45 lakh), Alto Spin of Maruti-Suzuki (Tk 5.25 lakh), Tata Indica V2 MLX (Tk 5.90 lakh), Tata Indica V2 DLX (Tk 5.25 lakh), and Mitsubishi Lancer Automatic (TK 13 lakh).

A raffle draw on entry coupons will be held on June 10 at a press conference at the National Press Club at 11am. The first prize is a 1300CC brand new car, second prize a 800CC taxicab, third prize an air conditioner, fourth prize a 12-CFT refrigerator and fifth prize a Pentium-4 personal computer.

Besides, the sixth prize is an IPS, 7th prize a colour television set, eighth prize a microwave oven, ninth prize a DVD player, 10th prize a camera and special prizes are 10 mobile phones.