Most roads led to 22 Camac Street last weekend as close to 40,000 visitors poured into The Telegraph Auto Show, presented by Xtrapremium, despite intermittent showers.

Eight premium auto brands, an oil major and a financier participated in the three-day event that showcased various models, including the classy Audi A4 and the Mercedes CLS 300.

Corporate executives during their Friday lunch break, Saturday shoppers and Sunday revellers trooped into the 15,000-sq ft arena, where apart from compact cars, it was the true boy SUVs that caught the fancy of most.

The stall by Maruti drew maximum visitors, registering over 400 enquiries and eight spot bookings. “More than actual sale, such fairs are good promotional exercises and the response has been quite decent,” said Maruti regional manager Manish Rathore on Sunday evening.

“Almost all spot bookings have been for SX4,” said Anamitra Bhattacharya, assistant sales manager at the Maruti stall. “We expect to have a 20 per cent conversion of the total enquiries at the fair,” said Rathore.

Giving good competition was the sedan from Mahindra Renault. Voted as the best car on Day II, Logan drew 200 enquiries with its ex-showroom price of Rs 4.48 lakh.

Tata Motors, too, had a good show. “There were spot bookings for four Indigo XLs, a Safari DICOR and an Indica,” said Tata Motors product manager Amit Joshi.

Ophthalmologist Shiladitya Mukherjee, who drives “about 40 to 50 km a day”, was looking for a “good diesel car” at the fair. Having inspected the CRDI engines of Indigo and Fabia, he said he would wait for the CRDI version of Swift.

The star of the show, however, was the baby Chevy Spark. Clearly a ladies’ car, the GM stall attracted the maximum number of women walk-ins. With a total of 200 enquiries, GM zonal sales manager Gagandeep Singh said: “We should be able to sell 40-odd units as a result of the show. The figures are exciting and above expectation.”

Hyundai’s premium model Verna had 200 enquiries with 20 hot leads, said dealer Nitin Himatsingka. The father-son duo of Sushanta and Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay had a heated exchange at the Hyundai stall. “We expected a bigger show,” said Siddhartha, an undergraduate student and a car buff who voted for Logan while his father opted for Santro.

Luxury brands like Toyota and Ford were literally pitted against each other with stalls right across. While customers voted Endeavour the best car on the final day, Toyota’s Innova and Corrola, too, drew crowds. “We had 38 enquiries for Innova,” said Gautam Sinha, Toyota sales officer.

Actor Sabyasachi Chakrabarti was bowled over by Endeavour. “This is a good car,” was his verdict after he had a look under the bonnet and chassis. “Calcutta is waking up to the boom in the auto sector. We had 200 enquiries at the fair,” said Rashid Mohammed, regional manager of Ford.

Nirmala Kochar from nearby Ho Chi Minh Sarani walked in with her family and was looking for a comfortable mid-sized sedan. “We own a Maruti 800 but my father-in-law has a knee problem, so we are looking for a bigger car like Esteem,” she said.