The History of Proton: Malaysia's National Car Brand Since 1983

Proton key facts

A national car project: 1979 to 1985

The idea of a Malaysian car dates from 1979. The government wanted to build an industry of its own, with local suppliers, jobs and know-how. The Cabinet approved the project in 1982, and the company was set up a year later.

Mitsubishi Motors became the technical partner. It helped build the Shah Alam factory, supplied equipment and trained staff, and in return took a minority stake and sold engines and gearboxes. High import duties on foreign cars gave the new brand a large price advantage at home.

The Saga went on sale in July 1985, in the middle of a recession. It was a lightly reworked Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore, and Proton built about 17,000 cars in its first year. In 1986 the Saga took 47 % of the Malaysian market with 24,148 sales. The hatchback Saga Aeroback followed in October 1987.

Growth and exports: 1986 to 1996

Proton started exporting in December 1986. The United Kingdom opened in March 1989, and about three years after entering that market the brand won three awards at Britain's International Motor Show. British buyers registered 141,209 Protons between 1989 and 2016.

Other markets followed. Germany took 15,479 cars between 1995 and 1999, and Australia 34,985 between 1995 and 2016. Exports totalled 164,153 cars from December 1986 to December 1997. In China, the old 1cars text adds, the partner Youngman later sold Proton-based cars under its own EuropeStar badge. According to the old 1cars text, plans to enter the United States failed because the cars would have needed deep changes to meet American rules.

At home, the range grew with the Iswara (1992) and the Wira (May 1993), both still Mitsubishi-based. In 1993 Proton held 74 % of the Malaysian market, its highest share. The Wira was sold in Europe as the Proton Persona 400.

Lotus, MV Agusta and the first own designs

On 30 October 1996 Proton bought 80 % of Group Lotus for 51 million pounds (about €62 million at the time). It raised its stake to 100 % by 2003. Lotus engineers in Norfolk worked on Proton suspension and design, and the old 1cars text notes that they also tuned the Persona 400. The Lotus side of the story is told in the history of Lotus.

The Waja of August 2000 was the first Proton designed in-house. The Gen-2 hatchback of late 2004 brought the Campro, the first engine built in Malaysia. Early quality problems hurt its reputation, but it gave Proton a technology base of its own. The Gen-2 was also exported, including to Europe.

Not every move worked. In July 2004 Proton bought 57.57 % of the Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta for 70 million euros. In December 2005 it sold the stake to Gevi for one euro, with the buyer taking on 139.44 million euros of debt. Mitsubishi sold its last Proton shares in January 2005, and partnership talks with Volkswagen in 2004 ended without a deal.

The Tanjung Malim plant

A second factory opened at Tanjung Malim in Perak in November 2003. It cost 1.8 billion ringgit (about €420 million at the time) and could build 150,000 cars a year, with room to grow. The site is part of Proton City, a planned town of about 4,000 acres.

In 2011 the two plants built 166,880 cars between them, against a combined capacity of about 350,000. By our calculation, they were running at less than half of their capacity.

Perodua's rise and a decade of decline

The second national brand, Perodua, sold cheap small cars based on Daihatsu models. In 2006 it overtook Proton, whose share fell to 32 %. Apart from a brief lead in June 2009, Proton has stayed second ever since.

New models kept arriving: the Persona saloon in August 2007, a second-generation Saga in January 2008 and the Exora in April 2009. The Saga took about 23,000 bookings in its first two weeks, and the Exora was Malaysia's first home-grown seven-seat MPV. The Preve (2012), Suprima S (2013) and Iriz (2014) followed.

In January 2012 the conglomerate DRB-HICOM took full control for 1.2 billion ringgit (about €300 million). Sales still fell. In the United Kingdom the brand was withdrawn in 2014.

Geely and the recovery since 2017

In May 2017 DRB-HICOM agreed to sell 49.9 % of Proton to Zhejiang Geely Holding. The deal was signed on 23 June 2017, and Geely also bought 51 % of Lotus. Proton now had access to modern Chinese platforms, engines and electronics.

The first result was the X70 SUV of 2018, based on a Geely model. The smaller X50 followed in 2020, then the X90 and the S70 saloon in 2023. By our calculation, sales rose by about 77 % from 64,744 in 2018 to 114,708 in 2021, and the share climbed back above 20 %. The partner's own story is in the history of Geely.

Electric cars came next. The e.MAS 7 SUV was launched in December 2024, followed by the e.MAS 5 in 2025. The brand sold 157,976 cars in 2025, according to Proton, which was 3.3 % more than in 2024. Exports reached 6,000, the highest since 2012, with Egypt, Vietnam and Singapore as the main buyers.

Current Proton line-up

By our calculation, the Saga alone made up 47 % of Proton's sales in 2025. Together with the X50 it passed 102,000 cars, almost two-thirds of the total.

Proton timeline

The Proton emblem

The first badge of 1983 was a dark blue shield with a yellow crescent and a fourteen-pointed star, symbols taken from the Malaysian flag. In 2000 the Waja introduced a tiger head on a green roundel. The tiger was redrawn in three dimensions in June 2016, and a new version with the slogan "Inspiring Connections" arrived in September 2019.

Is a Proton worth buying today?

Modern Geely-based Protons suit buyers who want a well-equipped SUV for a low price in the markets where the brand is sold. The Saga remains one of the cheapest new cars in Malaysia. Older Mitsubishi-based models are simple to repair, but parts outside Southeast Asia are now scarce. To weigh a Proton against rivals, use the 1cars comparison tool or the car finder, and see the brand's models on the Proton catalogue page.