2014 has not been a kind year to Honda Motor Southern Africa (HMSA) so far, but hopefully the new Ballade, launched this week, will lure more buyers to the Japanese brand’s showrooms, as will the new Jazz when it arrives next year.

With consumers struggling to make ends meet, the entire local industry is, in fact, gearing up for a much tougher year than anticipated in January, before talk of a recession reared its head.

HMSA sales and marketing director Graham Eagle says sales of Honda’s small Indian-made entry-level car, the Brio, has seen a dip as the company is defending margins during these tough times, rather than offering discounts and chasing volume.

The new Ballade also comes from India, and no longer Thailand. The previous model’s three-year history in South Africa was perhaps more punctuated by its absence than its presence as a small sedan competitor, owing to a series of natural disasters in Asia.

First the tsunami which struck Japan in 2011 disrupted parts and vehicle supply, before floods in Thailand caused stock to South Africa to dry up again, says Eagle.

At its peak, HMSA sold around 300 Ballades a month in South Africa – this towards the end of 2013.

HMSA sold 551 new vehicles, across all segments, in April, and 832 units in April last year.

Eagle says the Ballade will compete in the B-segment sedan market, against the likes of the Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai Accent sedans. He hopes HMSA will sell between 150 and 300 units a month of the new Ballade.

The B-segment sedan segment has grown from 7% of the South African sedan market in 2010, to 19% in 2014 year to date, with both the larger, more expensive C- and D-sedan segments losing market share.

The new Ballade is slightly longer and taller than its predecessor. Boot capacity has also increased from 506 l to 536 l.

Three interior power points also allow smartphone or device charging from all four seating positions.

The engine is still a 1.5 l four-cylinder petrol unit, and the output figures have remained at 88 kW and 145 Nm respectively. However, innovations such as reduced internal friction, weight reduction and Honda’s i-VTEC variable valve timing system, together with the Ballade’s more aerodynamic shape, have allowed improvements in performance, fuel consumption and emissions.

Maximum torque is reached at a lower rev count, creating a flatter torque curve and improved in-gear response, which, in turn, assists the Ballade in posting faster sprint times. Also new is a latest-generation constantly variable transmission (CVT) with seven ‘virtual’ gears.

The CVT unit’s design sprouts from Honda’s Earth Dreams initiative, which seeks to create technologies that also deliver environmental benefits.

In this manner, the CVT’s reduced weight and greater efficiency result in reduced fuel consumption and reduced emissions.

Manual-transmission Ballade models accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in 9.6 seconds, which is 0.2 seconds quicker than the outgoing model.

The new CVT gearbox Ballade achieves greater improvement with its zero to 100 km/h acceleration time of 11.1 seconds, trimming almost a second from the previous automatic model’s sprint time.

The manual Ballade achieves combined-cycle fuel consumption of 5.9 l/100 km, while the CVT model is slightly more economical, at 5.8 l/100 km.

The new Ballade is equipped with six airbags – front, side and curtain.

Vehicle stability assist (VSA) is also standard across the Ballade range. VSA incorporates traction control and electronic stability control, assisting the driver to maintain control in extreme situations.

Hill start assist makes starts on an incline easier by preventing the vehicle from rolling back.

A further innovation, fitted to the more upmarket Elegance model, is a multi-angle rear-view camera. When reverse gear is selected, the camera view is displayed on the car’s touch-screen display.

The Elegance version also introduces a multifunction steering wheel that incorporates cruise control, Bluetooth and audio functions, as well as a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system.

The touchscreen interface emulates smartphone screen functionality for more intuitive ease of use.

In addition, the infotainment system is fitted with a port that allows images, video and audio data to be accessed from compatible smartphones and devices (such as iPads and tablets) and displayed on the Ballade’s screen.

The Ballade Trend model features a new audio system with integrated USB and Bluetooth functionalities.

The list of standard equipment on all models includes air conditioning, electric windows, electric folding mirrors and remote central locking.

Sales of the Honda Ballade start in June.

The pricing, which ranges from R195 900 for the Trend, to R235 590 for the top of the range Elegance, includes a three-year/100 000 km warranty, a four-year/60 000 km service plan, and one-year roadside assistance.

*HMSA also launches the Civic Tourer this week, aimed at families who want a more dynamic driving experience than that offered by a sports-utility vehicle. HMSA expects to sell 10 to 15 units a month. Pricing starts at R360 000.