Proton is still alive and kicking, it’s part-owned by the Malaysian state and part-owned by Geely, yes that Geely who also owns Volvo and Lotus. You can not buy a Proton in the UK, once upon a time you could but not many people did so Proton vacated the UK market years ago. Proton sales peaked in the UK during the mid-1990s and were based on Mitsubishi underpinnings. It’s fair to say Proton was a reliable car brand, but that’s about it. The company quietly withdrew from the UK market in 2014.

Nevertheless, Proton has evolved since 2014 and now offer better quality vehicles, for the Maylasian and Chinese markets at least. Proton sells just over 100,000 cars annually. Paul Tan, Maylasia’s only car reviewer, spends 1-hour reviewing the Proton X50 compact SUV. That’s rather too long for such a generic car.