Proton Holdings
| Company type | Joint venture |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 7 May 1983 |
| Founder | Mahathir Mohamad |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Mainly Malaysia |
Key people | Tan Sri Syed Faisal Albar (chairman) Dr. Li Chunrong (CEO) En Roslan bin Abdullah (deputy CEO) |
| Products | Automobiles |
Production output | 154,611 units (2023) |
| Revenue | RM8.0 billion (2020) |
Number of employees | 12,000 |
| Parent | DRB-HICOM (50.1%) Geely Auto (49.9%) |
| Divisions | PONSB Sdn Bhd Proton Edar |
| Subsidiaries | Proton R3 |
| Website | proton |
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Proton Holdings Berhad, commonly known as Proton (stylised PROTON), is a Malaysian multinational automotive company. Proton was established on 7 May 1983, as Malaysia's sole national budget car company until the advent of Perodua in 1993. The company is headquartered in Shah Alam, Selangor, and operates additional facilities in Proton City, Perak.
Proton began manufacturing rebadged versions of Mitsubishi Motors (MMC) products in the 1980s and 1990s. Proton produced its first indigenously designed, non-badge-engineered car in 2000 with a Mitsubishi engine. It elevated Malaysia as the 11th country in the world with the capability to design cars from the ground up. Since the 2000s, Proton has produced a mix of locally engineered and badge-engineered vehicles.
Proton was founded under majority ownership by HICOM, with a minority stake being held by Mitsubishi Group members. By 2005, Mitsubishi had divested its stake in Proton to Khazanah Nasional. In 2012, Proton was fully acquired by DRB-HICOM. Proton was the owner of Lotus Cars from 1996 to 2017. In May 2017, DRB-HICOM announced plans to sell a 49.9% stake in Proton and a 51% stake in Lotus to Chinese company Geely. The deal was signed in June 2017, and Lotus has ceased to be a unit of Proton. In July 2023, after the internal restructuring in Geely Group, the Proton brand was consolidated into the balance sheets of Geely Auto.