Its facelift revision, which debuted on December 15, 2011, became the first Proton to use the CamPro CFE turbocharged engine and CVT technology.

In 2001, Proton experimented with larger vehicles by introducing the Juara Mini-MPV, a rebadged Mitsubishi Town Box Wide.

[7] Proton filed a patent for the upcoming MPV with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (IPO) on October 24, 2008, and it was approved several days later, on November 4.

[8] The official name Proton Exora, along with its tagline Keriangan Keluarga (English: Family Fun) was announced on February 17, 2009.

[9] "Exora," which was inspired from the Ixora flower, was chosen among 251,763 entries during the Name The Proton MPV competition by the grand prize winner, Norsholihan Binti Abdul Eanich.

[10] After a development phase of 18 months, production of the Exora finally commenced in March 2009 at Proton's Shah Alam plant.

[12] It later materialized into the Exora B-Line trim (known latter as standard), debuting on November 19, 2009, four days before the Perodua Alza's launch.

It was launched to appeal to mass potential buyers by offering no additional accessories, but with standard CFE engine, CVT transmission and ABS + EBD.

The major distinguishing features of this car would be the captain seats in the second row, dual headrest LCDs and a unique color option, Absolute Brown.

The exterior design of the 2017 Exora has been updated to feature Proton's new three-dimensional badge, in line with the company's recently launched models.

[30] The engine received a redesigned oil cooler hose to address a previously identified issue of premature failure.

Despite being a newcomer and facing stiff competition from rival Japanese makes, the Exora received critical acclaim from the Thais, scoring 1,388 bookings out of a total 25,220 placed at the event.

[45] In July 2015, Proton signed a distributor agreement with Andes Motor, and the first left-hand drive Prevé and Exora evaluation units were shipped to Chile in November.

[49] A batch of Proton cars including the Exora departed Malaysia in September 2018[50] and arrived in Egypt in October 2018.

[52] The Exora Prestige variant on the other hand offered far superior levels of luxury and kit in an effort to gauge its potential as a vehicle fit for VIPs.

[53] It offered a built-in office working table, fridge and intercom, as well as a 19-inch LCD TV and a seat massaging system among others.

[54] Proton participated in the RAC Future Car Challenge on 6 November 2011 with plug-in electric versions of the Exora, Saga and Persona, in which the company claimed two awards despite their shortcomings.

Unlike the Juara, the Exora was a true winner, and has since been consistently positioned among the Top 10 best selling vehicles in Malaysia.

Despite Proton's best efforts, the largely cheaper Alza outsold the Exora by a significant margin, and the former replaced the latter as Malaysia's best selling MPV from 2010 and onwards.

[61][62] The MPV, which is equipped with dual frontal and side airbags with thorax and head protection for front occupants, scored 26.37 out of a possible 37 points.

In the side impact crash test, it managed 14.82 out of 16 points – driver chest protection was listed as acceptable.

One of the key features that made these ratings possible is the use of high tensile steel for the body cage, providing better stability and increased impact absorption during a collision.

[67][68][69] In May 2023, Proton was announced that the discontinuation and its plans for ending production of the Exora by late 2023, as the successor of the MPV still remains unknown.