PROTON recorded a buoyant month for sales in September despite halving the number of model variants offered in the UK.

Its range of 26 three-door Satria and four- and five-door Wira models has been cut back to 10 and will be sold alongside three Impian models.

The Malaysian manufacturer registered 560 units last month - including 100 new Impian saloons - boosting sales for the year to date to nearly 3,000 cars, up more than 8per cent on 2000.

The company is also in the process of recruiting new dealers to boost its market share and availability of the Impian, which will soon be available with a 1.8-litre engine.