The Suzuki Swift began in 1983 as a marketing and manufacturing rebadge of the Suzuki Cultus, a supermini (or subcompact) manufactured and marketed worldwide across three generations and four body configurations—three-door hatchback, four-door sedan, five-door hatchback and two-door convertible—and using the Suzuki G engine family.

The Swift was marketed in the Japanese domestic market (JDM) as the Cultus and elsewhere as the Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Forsa, Chevrolet Swift, Chevrolet Sprint and Sprint Metro, Geo and Chevrolet Metro, Pontiac Firefly, Maruti 1000, Holden Barina and Subaru Justy. Versions of the second generation Cultus were also produced until 2007 in India and the car remains in production today in Pakistan and China. For more information on the initial versions of the Swiftsee: Suzuki Cultus and Geo Metro.