actually, ppl like khyber coz of it's predecessor "Swift"(japan assembled) having leaf springs at rear, it was belived that leaf springs are more rugged, so they help better cornering/steering, though there were some apprehensions too, but it was ppl's belief, then at that time charade was the only other hatchback (i am deliberately ignoring FX), though charade has its own class but generally speaking swift made its way through low maintenance costs.
swift also came with springs at rear in 89/90 but after that its khyber and swift used to be faster than khyber.
waisay, if suzuki would have launched cultus (this model) before khyber, then khyber would be a flop coz it's difficult to change ppl's mind set and quality is also a big factor which is on decay, everyday.