Suzuki Cultus Crescent

• 
  Suzuki Esteem sedan (first facelift, US)
• 
  Suzuki Esteem wagon (first facelift, US), with North American specification tail lights.
• 
  Suzuki Baleno hatchback (first facelift, Australia)
• 
  Suzuki Baleno wagon (second facelift, Chile)
• 
  Suzuki Cultus sedan (Japan), dropped the "Crescent" suffix in 1998.
• 
  Suzuki Cultus Wagon (Japan)
• 
  Suzuki Baleno interior (facelift; Pakistan)

Suzuki restyled the Cultus Crescent and renamed it Cultus (for the Japanese market only) in mid-1998. In this year, both India and Pakistan started producing Baleno in their countries.[6][7] Unique for Pakistan, Baleno was produced with pre-facelift front end (but facelifted in 2002[6]), only available as a sedan and powered with 1.3- and 1.6-liter petrol engines.[8] While in India, the wagon body style also produced there and marketed as Baleno Altura[9][10] and also the only country that produced Cultus wagon outside Japan. In North America, the changeover took place with the 1999 model year. The engine lineup was expanded to include Suzuki's J18A chain-driven DOHC engine that was fitted to the sedan and wagon. The Esteem 1.8-liter wagon completely replaced the Esteem 1.6, but in most markets the 1.8 sedan became the sports model. In some European markets, the 1.8-liter was installed in the hatchback and sold as the limited edition Baleno GSR.[11] Europe also gained a turbodiesel version, with a SOHC belt driven 8-valve 75 PS (55 kW; 74 hp) XUD9 engine supplied by Peugeot.[1] In 1999, Indonesian market Baleno received new 1.5-liter petrol engine, replacing the old 1.6-liter engine, as the country imposed higher tax for cars with engine above 1.5-liter starting in late 1990s.[12] 4-speed automatic transmission was later added in 2000.[12] In the Philippines, the facelift model was introduced in 2000 as the Chevrolet Cassia. Suzuki chose to drop the Esteem in the market in favor of Chevrolet Philippines, who have been re-introduced at that time to have an entry-level sedan competing against other Japanese-made sedans. Chevrolet's first sedan to be offered in the country for a new decade was not a market success. The 1.6-liter SOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder which made 97 PS (96 hp; 71 kW) was the only engine choice offered and had fewer features than the rest of its rivals. Its main competitors were the Ford Lynx, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, and the Mitsubishi Lancer. Due to poor sales, production ended in 2002, just 2 years after it was introduced. After its discontinuation, the car was replaced by the Chevrolet Optra.

A minor facelift appeared in 2001, with only changes on the front grille. For Indonesian market, this facelift was appeared with new white coloured rear blinkers and later arrived in India around 2006.

The Cultus was replaced in most markets by the new Aerio/Liana, which was launched in 2001.[13] In Japan, the sedan was discontinued in November 2001,[14] although the wagon remained until August 2002.[15] The entire range was pulled from the market in Europe and North America in 2002, after one year of overlapping with the Aerio/Liana. The car remained available in many developing countries, including India and Southeast Asia, where it was sold until 2007, when production stopped at the Maruti factory, with the assembly line giving way to the SX4 sedan.