They came early to the Cars@Expo yesterday - and were rewarded by being able to secure their dream cars at the two-day retail bazaar jointly organised by Singapore Press Holdings and motoring portal sgCarMart.

As an early bird who had arrived at 9.45am, Mr Ng Chuan Yong was able to avoid the crowds that started to swell by 1pm.

Mr Ng, a businessman, told The Sunday Times: "I saw the packed car park and lines of cars coming in as I left Singapore Expo. I was lucky not to be caught in the jam."

Cars@Expo, held at Singapore Expo Halls 5 and 6, is into its fifth year. More than 40 companies, including over 20 car distributors and 10 used car exhibitors, are displaying their products across 20,000 sq m of exhibition space.

Mr Ng, 56, who bought a Subaru Forester for less than $94,000, said it was good value when a free Sports upgrade worth $2,500 was thrown in for limited units.

For IT analyst Lew Choy Yeong, having many car distributors at one event allows her to make an informed choice. After two hours of browsing, Ms Lew, who is in her 50s, still went back to Toyota's Vios 1.5 - a model she has driven for the last nine years.

The last Cars@Expo, held in April, attracted over 100,000 visitors and chalked up more than $160 million in sales.

Admission to Cars@Expo is free. Today is the last day of the event, which starts at 10am.