In Japan, the Ballade was sold exclusively at Honda Verno dealerships alongside the Vigor, Prelude, CR-X, and Quint.

Because both the four-door Ballade sedan and the five-door hatchback Quintet were both high luxury content vehicles derived from the Honda Civic, the Ballade represented a type of music, and the Quintet represented a musical group.

A second generation Ballade from 1985 shared most of its body panels with the Civic, except for a sportier front end, and formed the basis of the CR-X sports car and the Rover 200.

Lower specification models featured the same 1.5L engine but with fueling provided via a carburetor, producing 85 bhp (63 kW).

1300cc Twin carb, 5-speed manual or 3-speed automatic E-series engine Known in South Africa as the SC9, or informally as the "popup" as to not confuse it with the SH4.

Honda & Colt(Mitsubishi) Division of Mercedes-Benz of South Africa marketing manager Guy Franken says: "With a total 12 derivatives in the range we believe that we have the entire small/intermediate car market covered and offer value in performance, specification, safety and affordability.

South African Ballades were assembled by the local subsidiary of Daimler-Benz, which wanted to market a smaller and cheaper car in addition to its Mercedes-Benz models.