Honda Ballade (2020-2025) Buyer’s Guide

With the Honda Ballade having cruised off into the sunset (yet again), is now the time to pick up a used version of this surprisingly spacious sedan? Let’s take a closer look…

Changing automotive tastes have zero respect for heritage. Just ask the Honda Ballade. Yes, despite this nameplate’s rich history here in South Africa, it was unceremoniously put out to pasture – for the 2nd time, no less – late in 2025.

Honda Motor Southern Africa says its decision to axe the Ballade followed a “comprehensive review of market performance” within the sedan segment, which it suggests has “experienced a steady decline in demand as customers increasingly shift toward compact and mid-size SUVs”.

Of course, the Japanese automaker’s local division is bang on the money. South Africa’s new-car buyers today broadly shun the once-popular sedan body style, with even premium contenders (think BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class) suffering a serious sales hit as the crossover craze continues.

But what if you’re one of the few private buyers (excluding ride-hailing drivers, that is) who still prefers a 3-box saloon? Well, there are a small number of units of this final generation of Ballade available on the used-car market.

In South Africa, the Ballade name was first marketed way back in 1982, with the original being assembled by Mercedes-Benz SA in East London. From 2000, the name disappeared for just over a decade – once production of the EK-generation Civic hatch and Ballade sedan had ended – but it returned to local roads in 2011.

From that point, the Ballade was based on the City sedan rather than the Civic. It moved into successive generations locally in 2014 and 2020, before being discontinued (alongside the BR-V) in 2025. The Ballade saloon was thus sold in South Africa for a cumulative 32 years, excluding its 11-year hiatus.

As a reminder, the GN-series Ballade was built on the same platform as the 4th-generation Fit hatchback. The iteration available in South Africa from 2020 to 2025 was imported from India, where it was badged as the City sedan.

Honda Ballade model line-up in South Africa

Revealed in Thailand late in 2019 as the 7th-generation Honda City, this sedan arrived in South Africa wearing the Ballade moniker in November 2020. At launch, Honda Motor SA offered a trio of derivatives, each powered by a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine driving the front axle through a continuously variable transmission (CVT):

• Ballade 1.5 Comfort CVT (89 kW/145 Nm)
• Ballade 1.5 Elegance CVT (89 kW/145 Nm)
• Ballade 1.5 RS CVT (89 kW/145 Nm)

Though a self-charging hybrid derivative curiously appeared in some local specification sheets, the dual-powered version of Honda’s sedan didn’t ever officially reach South Africa (but was offered in countries like Mauritius and the Seychelles, where the Ballade name was likewise used).

In early 2024, a facelifted version of the Ballade quietly made local landfall, seemingly overshadowed by the arrival of the Elevate – a crossover incidentally built on the same underpinnings. The mid-cycle revision was largely cosmetic (though a few specification adjustments were made, too), with the sedan’s mechanicals unchanged.

Having adopted a new grille design, the refreshed Ballade dispensed with the outgoing version’s chunky slab of chrome-effect trim up front. Honda also updated the rear bumper, while a new alloy-wheel design freshened up the vehicle’s profile.

The cabin, too, benefitted from some subtle tweaks, with the RS flagship gaining red dashboard trim and contrast stitching in the same hue. Some silver-painted surfaces – such as those applied to the steering wheel and around the air vents on either side of the touchscreen – were also dropped in favour of black finishes.

Still, the facelifted model wasn’t on the market for all that long. In fact, though Honda Motor SA confirmed the Ballade’s axing to Cars.co.za in November 2025, the last unit sold new in Mzansi was reported in March 2025.

What are the Honda Ballade’s strengths?

Tried-and-tested engine: Although a turbocharged 1.0-litre 3-pot was offered in some markets (as were hybrid and turbodiesel powertrains), Honda Motor Southern Africa opted to stick with a tweaked version of the tried-and-tested 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine that did duty in the previous generation – and indeed in several other Honda models.

Compared with the previous single overhead camshaft (SOHC) “L15A7” iteration, this new double overhead camshaft (DOHC) “L15ZF” motor offered an additional kilowatt (at 89 kW), while delivering its unchanged maximum torque figure of 145 Nm slightly lower in the rev range (though at a still lofty 4 500 rpm).

Its compression ratio was also marginally higher at 10.6. With a CVT shipping standard (including paddle shifters for all derivatives bar the Comfort variant), this chain-driven engine had a listed combined fuel economy of just 5.5 L/100 km.

Spacious rear quarters: Measuring 4 593 mm snout to rump, the GA-series Ballade was 113 mm longer than its predecessor (a figure that grew further to 138 mm at the facelift). Though its wheelbase was unchanged at 2 600 mm, Honda managed to unlock a little extra cabin space.

In fact, despite its generally compact exterior dimensions, the Ballade offered particularly spacious rear quarters, in terms of both knee- and headroom. Passengers back there furthermore enjoyed use of a centre armrest as well as access to dedicated air-conditioning vents, while rear outboard ISOfix child-seat anchors were included, too.

Impressive ride quality: Despite making do with a torsion-beam suspension setup (rather than a more sophisticated multi-link arrangement) at the rear, the light-on-its-feet Ballade served up a broadly impressive ride quality. Plump tyres – measuring 185/60 on derivatives fitted with 15-inch wheels and 185/55 on those with 16-inch rims – provided further cushioning from road imperfections.

What are the Honda Ballade’s weaknesses?

Rear seats don’t fold down: With a listed 506 litres of luggage room, the GN-series Honda Ballade was anything but short on packing space. Still, its versatility was hamstrung by the fact the rear bench was fixed in place, with no split-folding function offered.

Note that initially the entry-level and mid-spec derivatives came with a space-saver spare wheel positioned under the boot floor, while the flagship RS featured a full-size item. At the facelift, however, the mid-tier Elegance was upgraded to a full-size spare as well.

CVT only in South Africa: Whereas the prior version of the Ballade was available locally with a 5-speed manual gearbox or a CVT, Honda Motor Southern Africa opted to offer only the latter transmission for the GN series. As far as CVTs went, it was a relatively inoffensive example, though we’d like to have seen at least the base grade available in 3-pedal form (for the few remaining buyers who prefer to row their own gears).

RS tweaks merely cosmetic: The Ballade was the first Honda to be offered locally with the Japanese brand’s then-new “RS” badge. However, rather than signify some sort of performance upgrade (as “RS” once did at Renault and still does at Audi), this slightly incongruous red emblem was simply applied alongside some mild cosmetic enhancements and specification upgrades.

These tweaks included “sport” bumpers (front and rear), a subtle boot spoiler, a honeycomb-effect grille, leather upholstery, a 7-inch instrument cluster, a reverse-view camera (made standard across the range at the facelift) and an electric sunroof. Somewhat curiously, the RS letters stood for “Road Sailing”, which Honda described as a “nod to the smooth nature of a boat sailing on water”. Hardly sporty, then.

How much is a used Honda Ballade in South Africa?

In South Africa, the GN-series Honda Ballade shipped standard with a 5-year/200 000 km warranty as well as a 4-year/60 000 km service plan. The latter featured service intervals of 15 000 km.

At the time of writing, there were just 12 units of the GN-Series Honda Ballade listed on Cars.co.za – largely a function of how few were sold new locally (though perhaps also indicative of the fact owners tend to hang on to them). As many as 7 were listed as 2021 models, with 4 taking the form of facelifted 2024 models and the final unit a 2022 example.

Interestingly, the split between the 3 available trim levels was even at 4 apiece. Indicated mileage ranged from 15 000 km on a 2024 1.5 RS CVT to 100 500 km on a 2021 1.5 Elegance CVT.

• Below R250 000: Half of the listings were positioned below R250 000. All examples here were from the 2021 and 2022 model years (and all located in Gauteng), with only Comfort and Elegance derivatives listed.

• R250 000 and up: A budget of over R250 000 unlocked access to a couple of low-mileage 2021 examples for sale in Cape Town, along with all 4 of the 2024 RS-badged units. The most expensive unit we found was a 2024 1.5 RS CVT with 21 000 km on the clock, listed for R379 500.

For context on the figures above, here are the final new-vehicle prices we saw for the Ballade before it was discontinued locally in 2025:

• Ballade 1.5 Comfort CVT – R390 500
• Ballade 1.5 Elegance CVT – R425 500
• Ballade 1.5 RS CVT – R460 500

Which Honda Ballade derivative should I choose?

So, which derivative is the pick of the bunch? Well, unless you’re buying a Ballade for ride-hailing purposes, we’d avoid the base Comfort grade, since this was saddled with a polyurethane rather than leather-trimmed steering wheel and did without soft-touch dashboard trim, paddle shifters, rear parking sensors and a touchscreen system (the latter 2 until the facelift, that is).

As such, we’d point to the mid-tier Elegance as the most sensible option, though we certainly wouldn’t blame you for being tempted by the splash of extra standard kit (including full leather upholstery) offered by the flagship RS. That’s if the RS-specific styling tickles your fancy, of course.

What are the alternatives to Honda’s Ballade?

Back in late-2020 when this generation of the Honda Ballade made local landfall, a chief rival in the “value sedan” class was the Volkswagen Polo Sedan. For the record, this VW is one of the few segment stalwarts that has survived on the local market, having moved into its latest generation in 2022 (and gained a 1.0 TSI engine option in 2024).

Yes, the strong-selling, Prospecton-built Toyota Corolla Quest – which, incidentally, was also on offer from 2020 to 2025 – has since been put out to pasture, as has the Nissan Almera (available from 2013 to 2023), the Fiat Tipo Sedan (quietly axed in 2024) and the Suzuki Ciaz (discontinued in 2026). The Hyundai Accent Sedan, meanwhile, exited SA around a year after the GN-series Ballade arrived.

Is the Honda Ballade a smart used purchase?

A quick word on the Ballade’s safety credentials before we wrap up. Though the SA-spec (Indian-made) model wasn’t ever tested by Global NCAP, the Thailand-built version was awarded a 5-star safety rating by ASEAN NCAP in 2020. However, note that model wasn’t fully representative of what was sold in Mzansi.

Still, keep in mind the SA-spec Ballade shipped standard with ABS (with EBD), vehicle stability assist, hill-start assist, rear-outboard ISOfix child-seat anchors and 6 airbags (including curtain items). While ventilated brake discs were employed up front, the rear axle made do with drums.

So, is this model worth a look on the used market? Well, there’s no escaping the fact the final Ballade represented a decidedly “vanilla” choice (yes, even in RS guise), with its demise marking a dishearteningly muted end for one of Honda’s most recognisable nameplates. But, despite its lack of pizzazz, there’s plenty to appreciate.

Thanks in part to its underappreciated sedan body style, the Honda Ballade manages to combine impressive cabin space (particularly at the rear), a cavernous boot and a comfortable ride, all while being powered by a well-proven engine. And, since most buyers now prefer crossovers (reducing demand for saloons), it offers even stronger value today than it did in years gone by.

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