The Proton Saga is a subcompact car, formerly a compact car manufactured by produced by Malaysian auto manufacturer Proton since September 1985. The name "Saga" was chosen from the winner of the contest which was held to choose the first car's name, Ismail Jaafar, a retired military soldier. This name was derived from "saga" (Abrus precatorius), which is a type of soft, fragile, oily, highly combustible but productive seed commonly found in Malaysia, and incidentally, the Proton Saga 1.3 litre engine "is as strong as the saga seed".
The Saga and its variants contribute to most of Proton's sales and revenues since its introduction. For nearly 22 years, the first-generation Saga is the longest surviving Proton model to date, ahead of its mid size car, the Proton Perdana. The original Saga model was originally based on the 1983 Mitsubishi Lancer Fiore to avoid R&D costs, and retained it throughout its production lifespan. In 2008, a long overdue successor designed in-house by Proton was launched to conceal the aging platform. In August of that year, the 3 millionth car produced by Proton was a second generation Proton Saga.
