Proton is coming back at its value brand rival Kia with a five-week television advertising campaign, due to start at the end of April.

The adverts, produced by Zinc Advertising, will feature on ITV1, and will be supported by national press and billboard adverts in a £1.5m campaign.

This coincides with a continuing £1 deposit promotion on Savvy, Impian and Jumbuck, and Gen-2 buyers can choose between £1 deposit or 0% finance.

The brand’s first quarter new car registrations are up 88% compared to the same period in 2005. The year-end target is 6,000 registrations, of which more than half will be Savvys.

Gerry Ayres, chairman of the Proton Dealer Council, says: “Our optimism in the first quarter this year has paid off. Proton’s marketing spend has increased footfall and this has been converted by dealers, with sales up 88% on last year.

“This is an impressive result, especially given the size of the network and the lack of availability on some Savvy models. Proton intends to increase its marketing spend on television, newspaper and billboard advertising in the second quarter.

“With conquest sales increasing dramatically, in some cases bringing desirable part exchanges, the dealer network feels the tide has at last changed. Let’s hope we can take advantage and sail on to arrive with a good result by the end of June.”

Simon Park, Proton’s general manager of sales and marketing, says the carmaker will also focus on recruiting more dealers in the next two quarters. It currently has 64 full dealerships and 21 agents selling only Jumbuck, and has identified open points in 30 key territories.