While Proton Cars was formed only in 1983, its story started several years before that - in 1979, then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had a vision for Malaysia to have its own national vehicle, a plan to accelerate the nation's industrialisation.

That year, the National Car Project was presented to Malaysia's Government. Fast forward to May 1983, and Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional (National Automobile Enterprise) - Proton, was officially incorporated.

Proton Saga, Malaysia's first national car was officially launched by Dr. Mahathir, then Prime Minister of Malaysia, in 1985

The start of a Saga

In 1985, Dr. Mahathir officially launched Malaysia's first national car, the Proton Saga. The Proton Saga was manufactured at the Proton HICOM factory in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

As Proton was a joint venture between Heavy Industries Corporation of Malaysia (HICOM), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) and its marketing arm, the Proton Saga was based on the 1983 Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore platform and powered by Mitsubishi engines.

The original Proton Saga was based on the Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore

Over the next couple of years, the Proton Saga was exported to various regions, including Bangladesh, U.K. and Ireland - the Proton Saga 1.5 Aeroback model was also launched in 1987.

Proton continued to introduce more models, including the iconic Proton Wira in the 90s

Proton continued to grow throughout the 90s, entering more markets, and introducing models such as the Proton Wira, Perdana and Tiara.

Proton acquired Lotus in 1996, and thus acquiring the technical expertise to build its own cars from the ground up

Blooming into glow-up season

In 1996, Proton made a big move - it acquired Lotus, a well-established sports car maker from the U.K., which played a crucial role in taking the Proton brand to the next step. Along with Lotus, Proton also acquired Michigan Motor Research and motorcycle brand MV Agusta over the same period, effectively acquiring the ability to test and build powertrains, along with other intrinsic knowledge to build its own car from the ground up.

The Satria GTi was created with the assistance of Lotus, wearing a 'Handling by Lotus' badge

Shortly after the acquisition of Lotus, Proton swiftly tapped on the former's expertise in the handling department, applying the engineering know-how to create the Satria GTi, a hotted-up hatchback in 1998, wearing a 'Handling by Lotus' badge.

Proton Waja was the first Malaysian-designed car 

In 2004, Proton Gen 2 was introduced, which is built upon its own platform and engine

According to former CEO of Proton, Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, it was with the various acquisitions that the brand was able to develop and launch the first Malaysian-designed car, Proton Waja, in year 2000. Later on, in 2004, Proton introduced its own platform, along with its own engine (CamPro), with the Proton Gen 2.

In 2017, Proton entered a partnership with Geely, which led to new models such as the Proton X70, which is based on the Geely Boyue

Kicking into the high gear with Geely

Fast forward to 2017, DRB-HICOM entered a strategic partnership with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co, Ltd, marking the start of a whole new era for Proton. From here on out, Proton has been seeing yet another bout of immense growth with 38 new models launched since.

We were invited to visit Proton's facility within the new Automotive Hi-Tech Valley in Tanjung Malim to learn more about the brand

We were invited by Proton to visit its latest facilities located within the new Automotive Hi-Tech Valley in Tanjung Malim to learn more about the brand, its latest products and what to expect in the future.

There are great plans to develop the entire Tanjung Malim area, which houses Proton's various manufacturing facilities

While Proton opened its second manufacturing plant in Tanjung Malim back in 2003, it was in October 2025 when the company moved all its manufacturing operations to Proton Tanjung Malim, located within the Automotive Hi-Tech Valley.

The new Proton Saga is just one of the many models that are built in Proton's facility in Tanjung Malim

Here, the new Proton Saga is built alongside the Persona, X-Series SUVs and S70 sedan. Proton Tanjung Malim also houses Proton's first New Energy Vehicle (NEV) assembly plant and an engine assembly plant that also supports Geely's various brands. With the new facilities, Proton is able to produce up to 240,000 engines annually, with the capability to produce engines, transmissions, and electrified powertrain components.

Moreover, the Tanjung Malim facilities houses 1,400 employees, and is a core component within the Automotive Hi-Tech Valley, still empowering Malaysia's industrialisation, in line with the vision that Dr. Mahathir had decades ago.

Proton currently has three main product lineups, which covers everything from budget-oriented ICE cars to new-energy EVs and Plug-in Hybrids

New facilities, new platforms and new energy

Today, Proton focuses on three main product lineups: Advanced Modular Architecture (AMA) - including the new Saga MC3, Global Modular Architecture (GMA) - the Proton e.MAS series of cars leveraging on Geely's technology, and the X/S Series - such as the Proton X50.

Engines and transmissions are built at Proton's new powertrain plant for its own cars, an to support Geely's various brands as well

During our visit to Proton Tanjung Malim, we toured the new powertrain plant, which has 547 staff in total, and witnessed the engines and transmissions being built on the organised and high-tech production line. Being a full-fledged manufacturing facility, there were also metal panel stamping shops, body shops and paint shops located in Tanjung Malim, along with a dedicated test track where we got to try out some cars.

We drove the upcoming e.MAS 7 Plug-in Hybrid and the e.MAS 5 hatchback at Proton's test track in Tanjung Malim - both cars were smooth and easy to drive

Here, we experienced the e.MAS 7 Plug-in Hybrid that will be coming to Singapore in the future, the compact e.MAS 5 which is debuting here really soon, along with the new Saga and various other Proton X Series cars. Both e.MAS cars offered smooth power delivery and great ergonomics - as expected of products from a brand with substantial history in car making.

After the drives concluded in Tanjung Malim, our journey continued in Hangzhou Bay, which is located near Shanghai, in China. Here, we visited the Proton Research and Development Centre (PRDC), which is a hub where Proton and Geely staff collaborate to create the next-generation products that we see on the roads.

Geely owns China's largest powertrain testing facility, the largest and most comprehensive safety centre in the world and the worlds largest wind tunnel centre

We also visited Geely's various Research and Development centres, including China's largest powertrain testing facility, the largest and most comprehensive safety centre in the world (crash tests are conducted here), along with the world's largest wind tunnel centre.

Teaming up with Geely seems like one of the best moves Proton made in recent times

Having visited the impressive facilities, one thing was clear - teaming up with Geely is proving to be one of the best decisions Proton has made. The world-class facilities, along with strong collaboration will likely propel the brand to even greater heights.