Suzuki Cultus Crescent

Car model manufactured by Suzuki
the Baleno produced from 1995 to 2002
Van: and then to the global market in the first half of 1995. It was Suzuki's first attempt in the competitive compact segment. As a North American replacement for the Suzuki Cultus (Swift) sedan (the three door hatchback remained after it was redesigned in 1995), it was built on a slightly stretched Cultus platform for improved cabin room, but otherwise sharing most of internal components with the smaller model—and marketed as a distinct model. The Cultus Crescent was initially available as a three door hatchback and four door sedan, with the SOHC belt driven 16 valve G family engines, in 1.3 and 1.5 liter form, with power ranging from The 1.3 liter was only offered in the hatch while a 1.5 liter was only fitted to the sedan. Eventually, four wheel drive was offered with the 1.6 liter variant in February 1996, basically the same engine as found in the Suzuki Escudo, with power raised to At the same time, 1.8 liter DOHC chain driven 16 valve J18A engine with appeared, the lineup was also extended with the wagon body style, called Cultus Crescent Wagon GT. A commercial van with higher roof was also available in several European countries. Cultus Crescent also assembled in Colombia at GM Colmotores in 1995, marketed as Chevrolet Esteem and only available as sedan with 1.3 and 1.6 liter engines. Suzuki also produced this car locally in Indonesia, which was launched in July 1996 as replacement of previous Cultus sedan (marketed as Esteem there) and sold as Suzuki Baleno and only available as sedan with 1.6 liter engine and 5 speed manual transmission. The Suzuki Esteem was introduced in the Philippines in 1996 and sold until 2000, and was only available as a wagon. Suzuki then dropped the "Esteem" name in favour of Chevrolet, who had just been returning in the Philippine market to have at least one sedan model to compete with other popular Japanese made sedans.

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. Unique for Pakistan, Baleno was produced with pre facelift front end (but facelifted in 2002 While in India, the wagon body style also produced there and marketed as Baleno Altura 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. Europe also gained a turbodiesel version, with a SOHC belt driven 8 valve XUD9 engine supplied by Peugeot. 4 speed automatic transmission was later added in 2000. In Japan, the sedan was discontinued in November 2001, although the wagon remained until August 2002. 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.

A yellow Suzuki Esteem (with one red door) is used as Jimmy McGill's car in the AMC TV show Better Call Saul for most of the show.

Suzuki Baleno regularly finished in the top five spots of A6 class, mostly in Rally New Zealand from 1997 to 2001. The Baleno also received a cult following in India among rally enthusiasts. In 2000, Suzuki entered a heavy modified Suzuki Cultus sedan for competing in Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It featured two turbocharged J20A inline four engines, with a combined power output of with of torque. Driven by the last year's runner up, Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, it failed to finish the race due an accident that wrecked the car.