Editing Proton Holdings (section)

=== Mitsubishi ===

[[File:2012 Proton Inspira 2.0 Premium 4-door sedan (19699612942).jpg|thumbnail|right|The [[Proton Inspira]], the last of the Mitsubishi-based Protons.]]
[[Mitsubishi Motors Corporation]] (MMC) and [[Mitsubishi Corporation]] (MC) were instrumental in the foundation of Proton. The large majority of vehicle platforms, engines, parts and technical expertise were once sourced from Mitsubishi Motors. Additionally, the managing director of Proton between 1988 and 1993 was Kenji Iwabuchi, a former Mitsubishi Motors executive.<ref name="Proton 1980s 2"/> Proton's staff were also trained by Mitsubishi in Japan as part of a bilateral agreement. Management of Proton was gradually assumed by Malaysians in the 1990s.<ref name="Proton 1980s"/> All Proton cars launched between 1985 and 2000 with the exception of the [[Proton Tiara]] were based on Mitsubishi vehicles. Proton began producing indigenously designed models after 2000, but resumed product collaboration with MMC in 2008.<ref name="Proton Mitsubishi 2008"/> The result of the renewed collaboration is the [[Proton Inspira]], a [[rebadged]] 2007 [[Mitsubishi Lancer#2007–present|Mitsubishi Lancer]] for sale exclusively in the Malaysian market. It marked a return to closer ties between Proton and MMC.<ref name="Proton Inspira"/>

MMC and MC held a minority 30% joint stake in Proton, while a majority 70% stake was held by the Heavy Industries Corporation of Malaysia (HICOM).<ref>{{cite web |last=Fernandez |first=Joe |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=71lPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6631,2081111&dq=proton+kenji&hl=en |title=Dramatic Saga of a best-seller |publisher=[[New Straits Times]] |date=9 July 1989 |access-date=29 March 2013 |archive-date=30 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330234820/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=71lPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6631%2C2081111&dq=proton+kenji&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref> The Mitsubishi joint stake was later reduced to 15.86%, or 7.93% each for MMC and MC respectively until it was fully sold to [[Khazanah Nasional]] in January 2005.<ref name="Proton Mitsubishi share"/> Mitsubishi Motors, Japan's sole unprofitable carmaker of that period sold its 7.93% Proton stake earlier in March 2004 in an effort to reduce its ¥1.14 trillion (US$11 billion) debt.<ref name="Proton Mitsubishi share"/> The sale of Mitsubishi's joint stake in Proton marked the end of its 22-year investment in Proton.