1985, the beginning of the Malaysian Proton Saga

The year 1985 saw the genesis of Malaysia's own car, the Proton Saga. The original Saga model was based on the 1983 Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore by an agreement with Mitsubishi to produce Malaysia's own national car. In 2008, a successor designed in-house by Proton was launched under the new management and using the Proton Savvy platform to cut development cost. In August that year, the 3 millionth car produced by Proton was a second generation Proton Saga.

Early Saga models were powered by SOHC 8-valve 4-cylinder petrol engines supplied by Mitsubishi, available in both 1.3- and 1.5-litre sizes. Both were available with a 5-speed manual transmission, but a 3-speed Mitsubishi Tri-matic automatic was available with the 1.5-litre engine in 1987. The Saga was originally offered as a 4-door saloon, followed by the addition of a hatchback variant, introduced in 1988 as the Proton Knight and was later known as Saga Aeroback.

The Proton Saga gained the dominant market share in Malaysia, mainly due to its price there, but export sales were small.