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Proton, the Malaysian national automobile manufacturer, was established in 1983 under the leadership of the country’s former prime minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Based on technology and parts from Mitsubishi Motors, production of the first model, the Proton Saga, began in September 1985 at its first manufacturing plant in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Initially the components of the car were entirely manufactured by Mitsubishi but slowly local parts were being used as technologies were transferred and skills were gained. The 100,000th Proton Saga was produced in January 1989.

In 1993, a model called Proton Wira was introduced based on the Mitsubishi Lancer/Colt. The Proton Waja, which launched early 2001, is the first car model designed internally by Proton.

With the acquisition of Lotus technologies in 1996 from ACBN Holdings, Proton has gained an additional source of engineering and automotive expertise.

Proton exports cars to the UK, South Africa, and Australia and it also aggressively markets its cars in several other countries including the Middle East.

The lack of direct competition at Proton models price points has allowed Proton, for many years, to continue selling very outdated designs, generally with scant regards to providing basic safety equipment such as airbags and anti-lock braking in domestic models.

Proton’s range is relatively poor, with only three models which are the GEN-2, the Satria, the Neo and the Savvy.

GREEN CREDENTIALS Unfortunately, Proton never managed to export to the US due to the manufacturer’s cars requiring hundreds of changes to meet American safety standards and to secure coverage from auto insurers and satisfy legislative requirements.

Proton export models still do not comply with all environmental standards such as emission limits.

In the United Kingdom, Proton cars suffer somewhat from a poor public image; they are considered poor quality products with very poor residual values compared to their Korean rivals for example.