Proton History:
Production of the first proton model was based on technology and parts from Mitsubishi Motors. In fact, 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.Until the end of the 1990s, the carslogo featured the crest from Malaysiascoat of arms, featuring a crescent and a fourteen-pointed star. The new Proton logo features a stylized tiger head. In 1993, a model called Proton Wira was introduced based on the Mitsubishi Lancer/Colt. More than 220,000 units were sold between 1996 and 1998. Proton Perdana, based on the Mitsubishi Galant/Eterna, was first produced in 1995, intended for higher end market. By 2002 Proton held a market share of over 60 per cent in Malaysia, which was reduced to barely 30 percent by 2005 and is expected to reduce further in 2008 when AFTA mandates reduce import tariffs to a maximum of 5%.

Proton Overview:
Proton is the Malaysian national carmaker, which was established in 1983 under the direction of the former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad. Proton Holdings Berhad, the holding company, is listed on the Bursa Malaysia.

Other Proton Details:
Since inception, proton has developed many wonderful models. Examples include; Proton Tiara, Proton Juara, Proton Waja, Pro Proton Arena, Proton Gen-2, Proton Savvy, Proton PERT and Proton Persona. Proton Tiara was a supermini class 5 door compact car based on the Citroen AX. It was built under licence from PSA Peugeot Citroen by Proton from 1996 to 2000. The Tiara was powered by a 1.1L engine and featured a different grille, tail lights and bumpers than the Citroen AX. Its successor is the Proton Savvy. Proton Juara, MPV based on the Mitsubishi Town Box Wide. This model was the first batch being totally CKD models from Japan. The external appearance of the car, which was a modification of the original Town Box, was not popular with the Malaysian market and suffered from poor sales. Proton Waja is the first Proton to be designed and styled in-house. However, the carschassis and engine were sourced and adapted from Mitsubishi. The name Impian was chosen as it was considered to be a more pleasant sounding word for the international market. In January 2006, the car was fitted with a CamPro engine which has been re-tuned to boost the horsepower to 86 kW and 155 N-m of torque. Based on the Wira platform, Proton engineers managed to develop a vehicle that would cater for those who have an active lifestyle and also those who need a small and economical utility vehicle as opposed to a commercial truck. 1200 units were sold in Australia in its first year. The Arena comes in 3 bodystyles. Proton Gen-2 is the first fully Malaysian-developed Proton car and the replacement model for the Proton Wira; launched on February 8, 2004. Proton still continued to sell the Wira after the Gen.2 was launched, due primarily to the popularity of sedan/saloon vehicles in the target market. The Gen.2, a hatchback design, is considered by many to be the best-looking Proton. It has a minimalist and modern interior with design cues from the Lotus subsidiary.