Proton Holdings Berhad (stylized PROTON)
is a Malaysian automobile manufacturer.
It is headquartered in Shah Alam, Selangor and
operates an additional manufacturing plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak.
The company was founded in 1983 and was the sole vehicle manufacturer in
Malaysia until the establishment of Perodua in
1993. Proton is a Malay acronym for Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sendirian Berhad. (English: National
Automobile Company Private Limited).
Proton was largely a manufacturer
of badge engineered vehicles
from Mitsubishi Motors between
1985 and the early 2000s. The company has since produced several indigenously
designed vehicles and operates in at least 26 countries, of which the majority
are in Asia.
Proton was formerly owned by Khazanah Nasional, the investment holding arm of the
government of Malaysia. In January 2012, it was taken over by DRB-HICOM, a Malaysian conglomerate in a transaction
amounting RM1.2 billion.
Proton, predominantly reliant on
the local industry is currently undergoing major structural and internal
changes, as evident in the appointment of a new owner, partner, Chairman and
the launch of various new and upcoming models in an effort to gain an
international presence and increase profitability.
1980s
The concept of a National
Car was first conceived in 1979 by Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia with the goal of enhancing Malaysian industry.[2] The
National Car Project was approved by the Cabinet in 1982, leading to the
official founding of Proton on 7 May 1983. The company was initially wholly
owned by the government of Malaysia through Khazanah
Nasional and
was headed by its founder, Dr.
Mahathir. Proton
approached Mitsubishi
Motors between
1983 and 1984 and brokered a joint venture between both companies for the
production of the first Malaysian car. The result of the collaboration was the Proton Saga,
which launched on 9 July 1985.[3] It
was based on the second generation 1983Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore 4-door saloon and powered by a 1.3-litre Mitsubishi Orion 4G13 engine. The first Proton Saga to roll off
the production line inShah
Alam is preserved in
the Muzium
Negara as
a symbol of the beginning of the Malaysian automotive industry. Sales of the
new Saga outstripped supply and Proton struggled to meet the growing demand,
but by mid-1986 it had captured a 64% majority domestic market share in the Below 1600cc segment.[4] Later
in October 1987, a hatchback variant called the Proton Saga Aeroback was
launched and featured a more powerful 1.5L Mitsubishi 4G15 engine and a
redesigned rear-end. Proton entered the United
Kingdom in
March 1989 with the Saga saloon and hatchback duo, where the Malaysian company
set the record for the Fastest
Selling Make of New Car Ever to Enter the United Kingdom.[5] Nonetheless,
Proton did experience an overall decline in sales during the late 1980s as a
result of the corresponding worldwide economic recession, in addition to the
lack of sufficient technical expertise in Proton's management of that period.[6] Consequently,
Kenji Iwabuchi, a former Mitsubishi
Motors executive
was appointed as the Managing Director of Proton in 1988.[7] The
decade that followed subsequently witnessed significant developments and
milestones in Proton's history, both domestically and globally.
1990s
On 15 August 1992, the Proton Saga Iswara was launched. It shares the older
Mitsubishi platform used in the original Proton Saga, but
its exterior and interior styling are unique to Proton. The Saga Iswara was
widely used as taxicabs in Malaysia during
the 1990s and 2000s, and many continue in service to the present day. 21 May
1993 witnessed the introduction of the Proton Wira, a car which was better equipped and
larger than both the Saga and Saga Iswara. The Wira is based on the
fourth-generation 1991 Mitsubishi Lancer and was sold in a four-door saloon guise
at launch. The Proton Wira Aeroback, a five-door hatchback variant
featuring a Proton-designed rear-end joined the range in 1994. Both the Wira
saloon and hatchback shared six different engines by 1996, all of which were
sourced from Mitsubishi Motors. The engines included the tried and
tested 4G13 1.3L and 4G15 1.5L carried over from the Proton
Saga, the newer 4G92 1.6L, 4G93 SOHC and DOHC 1.8L and the 4D68 2.0L diesel. The Wira was the first Proton car to be
produced in both right-hand drive (RHD) and
left-hand drive (LHD) configurations,
and remains the only Proton car made available with a diesel engine.[8]In 1995, Proton launched the three-door Proton Satria hatchback and
the two-door Proton Putra coupé, both of which are based on the Wira platform
and powered by the same range of Mitsubishi engines offered in the Wira, with
the exception of the 2.0L diesel. The Proton Wira saloon and hatchback as well
as the Proton Satria and Putra were aggressively exported and marketed across
the European Union and Middle East during
the 1990s. The Proton Perdana, a premium D-segment saloon was also
launched in 1995 for sale exclusively in the Malaysian market.
It is based on the seventh generation 1992 Mitsubishi Eterna and was initially fitted with
Mitsubishi's 4G63 2.0-litre l4 engine, but was offered with the
superior 177bhp 6A12 DOHC 2.0L V6 engine after
1999. The Perdana remains the only D-segment, V6 powered car to be commercially
produced by Proton. A Citroën AX-based 1.1-litre five-door supermini called
the Proton Tiara debuted
in 1996. It was the result of a joint venture between Proton and PSA Peugeot Citroën,
a collaboration which was later abandoned after the death of Proton's then CEO,
Tan Sri Yahaya Ahmad in
1997.
On 30 October 1996, Proton
acquired an 80% stake in Lotus Group International Limited, valued at £51
million.[9] The
controlling interest was purchased from A.C.B.N. Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg, a company controlled by Italian businessman Romano Artioli, then also the owner of Bugatti. Proton's stake in Lotus was later increased
to 100% in 2003.[10] The
acquisition of Lotus witnessed the involvement of the British company
in the development of suspension and handling elements of all Proton cars
launched since 1996. The Proton Satria GTi, widely regarded as the best Malaysian car
ever produced owes much of its success to Lotus' contributions.[11]
The Proton Waja, the company's first indigenously
designed model was launched in August 2000. It set in stone Proton's new direction
in business and marked the end of Proton's extensive reliance on other
automobile manufacturers for vehicle platforms and parts. However, the Waja
lagged behind its main competitors and failed to gain the support of customers
in the domestic market. The Waja also marked the downfall of the Proton marque,
and inadvertently lead to the rise ofPerodua, the second Malaysian vehicle
manufacturer. In 2002, Proton introduced the Jumbuck, a ute based
on the Proton Wira platform
and thus far the only Proton model to enjoy significantly more popularity in
its export markets (specifically Australia) than domestically. The Proton Gen-2 was
launched in late 2004, where it became the first Proton car to be equipped with
the Malaysian-made CamPro engine.
The advanced RM1.8 billion
(USD$580 million) Proton Tanjung Malim manufacturing
plant in the Malaysian state
of Perak commenced operation in November 2003.[12] The
new plant was initially projected for an August 1998 opening, but was deferred
due to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.[13] However,
it was revived in 2001 and completed in late 2003 instead.[14][15] The
new 1,280 acre plant was also developed as part of the Proton City project,
which would span 4,000 acres of land in Tanjung Malim and
consist of residential, commercial, institutional, industrial and recreational
areas.[16] The
plant has an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, but could be
expanded to 1 million units in the future. The Proton Tanjung Malim plant
complements the original Proton plant in operation since 1985, located in Shah Alam, Selangor.[17] Despite
a combined production capacity of around 350,000 units, both plants are
underutilized with just 52,235 and 114,645 units produced at the Tanjung Malim and Shah Alam plants
in 2011 respectively.[16]
On 7 July 2004, Proton purchased
a 57.57% stake in MV Agusta S.p.A of Italy,
valued at €70
million. Proton failed to reverse the misfortunes of MV Agusta and finally sold
the marque to Gevi S.p.A in December 2005 for €1,
with Gevi assuming the €139.44
million debt carried over from MV Agusta.[18]
Proton Saga
(second generation), the company's flagship car
The latter half of the 2000s
marked Proton's comeback in the domestic market, which was then dominated by
newer and better Toyota-based
models from Perodua. On 15 August 2007, Proton launched the Personasaloon, the long overdue replacement for the
best selling Proton Wira saloon.
The Persona was based on an extended version of the 2004 Proton Gen-2 hatchback platform
and shared most of its external appearance, albeit priced around RM10,000 less
with large overall improvements in terms of ergonomics and functionality.[19] Despite
the similarities with the Gen-2, the Persona was an instant hit in Malaysia, with 19,840 units sold in the first three
months following its launch.[20] The
much anticipated second
generation Proton Saga was
launched on 18 January 2008.[21] Previously,
the first generation Proton
Saga was Proton's
first and most successful model, having a 23-year long lifespan, the longest of
all Proton models to date. The new Saga maintained its legacy, and turned out
to be a great sales success for Proton with over 23,000 bookings in under two
weeks since launch.[22] It
is consistently ranked as Proton's bestselling product in terms of annual sales
volume, placing 3rd in 2008, and 2nd between 2009 and 2012 in the Malaysian market,
beaten only by its arch rival, the Perodua MyVi.[23][24][25] Proton
made history again when it introduced the Exora, Malaysia's first 7-seater MPV on
15 April 2009.[26] It
was based on Proton's next generation P2 platform and satisfied the demand for
budget 7-seaters in the domestic market, previously monopolized by the Toyota Avanza and Nissan Grand Livina.
It has since been consistently positioned in the Top 10 bestselling vehicles in Malaysia.[23][24][25] The Proton Exora, together with the Persona and Saga marked the rise of a new Proton after
almost a decade of declining sales and loss in its domestic market.
2010s
In December 2008, Proton resumed
product collaboration with Mitsubishi
Motors Corporation.[27] Under
the agreement, Proton gained the rights torebadge the
2007 Mitsubishi Lancer to be sold exclusively in the Malaysian market.
The result of the collaboration was the Proton Inspira, which launched on 10 November 2010.
It also marked a return to closer ties between Proton and Mitsubishi,
the Japanese company which was instrumental in
Proton's foundation in the 1980s.[28] Proton
showcased the EMAS concept hybrid city
cars at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.[29] They
were designed byItaldesign Giugiaro and related to the Lotus Ethos, a similar concept car from Proton's British subsidiary.
Proton Prevé (above)
Proton Suprima S (below)
Proton Suprima S (below)
The long-awaited turbocharged inline-four petrol engine from Proton was revealed at the 2010 Kuala LumpurInternational Motor Show.[30] Officially
known as the 1.6L CamPro CFE, it is capable of producing power and
torque figures of 138 bhp (103 kW) at 5,000 rpm and 205 N·m at
2,000-4,000 rpm respectively, comparable to a 2.0L naturally aspirated engine,
while achieving better fuel efficiency and
reduced greenhouse emissions.[31]
In January 2012, Proton was
acquired by DRB-HICOM, a Malaysian conglomerate in a transaction
between Khazanah Nasional and
DRB-HICOM which totaled RM1.2 billion.[32] The Proton Prevé, the company's latest saloon car
was unveiled on 16 April 2012.[33][34] It
became the first Proton car, and to an extent, the first Malaysian car
to be awarded the full 5-star safety rating in the Australasian
New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP)
of Australiaand New Zealand.[35] In
December 2012, Proton acquired all of Petronas' engine technologies in addition to
associated technology patents at a cost of RM63 million.[36] The
deal encompassed a family of naturally aspirated and turbocharged 1.8,
2.0 and 2.2 litre engines to complement Proton's ownCamPro 1.3L
N/A, 1.6L N/A and 1.6L turbo engines. On 17 August 2013, Proton launched the Suprima S, the hatchback complement
to the Prevé saloon.[37] It
became the second 5-star ANCAP rated Proton and the first to offer extensive
standard safety features in its domestic market
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