Mazda is on course to set a sales record in the UK this year, despite having its biggest-selling model on run-out.

The manufacturer sold 9,770 cars in the UK in September – an all-time monthly record which puts it on course to reach 53,000 registrations by the end of this year.

This is despite the Mazda6 upper-medium challenger being in run-out mode to make way for the new version which goes on sale in January.

Sales in September included 2,778 Mazda3s, 2,091 Mazda6s, 1,532 MX-5s and 1,319 Mazda2s.

Of the latter figure, more than 60% of sales were of the all-new Mazda2 which has only just gone on sale in the UK.

The firm says that there is a strong order book for the model into next year, too.

Mazda UK sales director Jeremy Thomson said: “The new Mazda2 was the right car at the right time.

“The lightweight strategy with its benefits of improved CO2 emissions and better fuel consumption arrived at a time when other cars in the sector are getting larger and heavier.”

Helping push the Japanese manufacturer to a record sales year is a renewed focus on the fleet sector, under the leadership of fleet and remarketing director James Hopkins.

Mazda has restructured its corporate sales department and now has a three-strong team targeting sales to the contract hire sector.

It is also aiming to expand sales to small fleets with the appointment of a fleet dealer development manager to build sales to local businesses through the manufacturer’s 159-strong UK dealer network.

Mr Hopkins said: “As Britain’s fastest growing car brand over the last five years Mazda has established a reputation for innovative vehicles.

As a result of our new structure we aim to further grow our business in the fleet sector.”