Proton is a Malaysian automobile manufacturer headquartered in Subang Jaya and Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, with a manufacturing plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Founded in 1983, it was Malaysia's only carmaker until the establishment of its competitor and arch-rival, Perodua, in 1993. Its name is a Malay acronym for Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional (English: National Automobile Enterprise).
It is a core member of Proton Holdings Berhad, the holding company which is listed on Bursa Malaysia. Majority of its equity is owned by a government-owned company Khazanah Nasional Berhad, making it government-linked company (GLC). For more than 2 decades since its establishment, this stake was jointly owned by Mitsubishi Motors and parent Mitsubishi Corp. which each held a 7.93% stake in Proton until they sold it in March 2004. Mitsubishi disposed it’s entire 15.86% stake in Proton, most of which were picked up by Khazanah Nasional, which holds 42.7% of Proton shares now. The Mitsubishi-Proton partnership was deemed a failure because of the lack of technology transfer.