Proton launches year-long 25th Anniversary celebrations
Shah Alam, 9 July 1985 – That was the place and date that the first Proton Saga rolled out of the production line. At that time, only two model options were available both powered by the Mitsubishi Orion engines of 1.3 or 1.5-litre capacities mated to 5-speed manual transmissions.
Proton’s range has grown a bit since then, of course. The Saga itself was facelifted four times – Saga Magma, Saga Megavalve, Iswara, and finally Saga LMST – before being replaced by the current Saga BLM. There were the Wira, Satria, and Putra models which have since been phased out. The current line-up consists of the Saga BLM, Persona, Gen.2, Satria Neo, Waja, Exora, and Perdana.
It has been nearly 25 years since that fateful day when the first Saga rolled out of Proton’s plant. The company has went through a number of ups and downs during the period, witnessing sales soar in its early years before slacking quality steadily eroded consumer confidence to the point where some of our forummers have sworn off buying Protons for life.
In recent years, however, Proton has been working hard to restore its battered pride. Under the stewardship of current Managing Director Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, the company has embarked to improve the quality of its products and services. Recent batches of the Waja and Gen.2, two of the older models in Proton’s current stable, show genuinely improved cabin build quality. Not quite excellent yet, but better than before, to be sure. Small steps, but in the right direction.
As the company enters its silver jubilee year, it has laid out a year-long campaign to mark the occasion, where it would attempt to simultaneously reach out to the general public and customers, besides honouring and appreciating the contributions of various parties that have been crucial in the Proton cause for the past 25 years.
Kicking off the festivities, MD Dato’ Syed Zainal was at was at the Proton Centre of Excellence in USJ today to launch the official 25th Anniversary logo, selected from an internally held contest amongst Proton staff. The winning logo was designed by Rosaidatul Nor bt Rosli, who pocketed RM5,000 for her troubles.
“The Silver Jubilee programs are the core activities for Proton this year. In fact, on top of all these special events, all corporate and customer-related initiatives carried out this year will be injected with 25th Anniversary DNA, to streamline our efforts in making this a grand year to remember,” said Dato’ Syed Zainal.
Singled out for special mention by Dato’ Syed in his speech was a group of 651 Proton employees, whom he refered to as “Proton Pioneers”, who had remained loyal to the company since the day it was founded. A token of appreciation will be presented to these employees to commemorate their unbroken years of service to the company.
The actual birthday of that first Saga will also be marked with a bang, in the form of a 25th Anniversary Commemorative Gala Dinner on 9 July 2010, to be held tentatively at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. At the gala, the company will be unveiling special 25th Anniversary edition models, said to be versions of the Saga, Persona, and Exora.
Dato’ Syed Zainal further added, “After 25 years, we have now mastered not only the knowledge, but also the right skills and expertise to build good, competitive cars. And now, we are strengthening our future strategies to successfully compete in the global market.”
