The automotive industry has seen many collaborations between carmakers, especially in recent years, when cost-cutting seems to be the name of the game. However, some collaborations you just wouldn’t expect. When to Mercedes, it was Porsche who helped shove a V-8 into the W124, creating the 500E, but this time, it was Mercedes who helped another car company. That car company was Honda, who at the time was looking to establish a foothold in South Africa and, apparently, it was a win-win situation.
the Story Behind the Honda-Mercedes Ballade
The Mercedes-Honda collaboration dates back to the early 1980s when Honda wanted to gain entrance into the South African market. Mercedes had already been there, since 1948, and had established a strong brand. In addition, Mercedes also had production facilities there – something Honda didn’t have. At the same time, Mercedes wanted to sell a budget-friendly model to South African buyers, but their entry model – the 190E – was not affordable enough.
It was sold through Mercedes showrooms as an entry-level, high-quality, luxury car. In fact, there were reports that many Mercedes-Benz owners in South Africa bought a Honda Ballade as a second car.
It was a win-win situation
This collaboration resulted in two things. Mercedes racked up the sales numbers in South Africa, thanks to the Honda Ballade, which was sold beside the more expensive Mercedes 190E and 230E models. At the same time, Honda was perceived as an affordable brand that offers Mercedes-like levels of quality.
Mercedes continued producing the Honda Ballade for South Africa through the 1990s. Among those were the velour seats, electric windows, hi-fi audio system, and others.
There were AMG versions too
Mercedes’ very own go-to tuning specialists – AMG – also had a part in the German-Japanese collaboration, which resulted in one of the most obscure AMG cars you’ll ever know about. Mercedes even named the versions similarly to their own models. There were the AMG-enhanced Ballade 160i and 180i. Ok, they sound a bit more like BMW designations than Mercedes would like to admit.
The engine was a Honda B16A unit, which after the AMG treatment produced 173 horsepower, as opposed to 160 horsepower, in standard trim.
It all ended in 2001
Mercedes discontinued the Civic-based Honda Ballade in 2001. It was replaced by the seventh-generation Honda Civic in South Africa. A few years later, the Ballade name returned but is now used for the South African version of the Honda City - a car that is still on sale today in South Africa. Although 2001 marked the end of this collaboration, both Mercedes and Honda achieved their goals for the South African market.
As we said in the beginning, nowadays, automotive collaborations are a much more common sight, and with all the start-up manufacturers as well as those who still operate on a regional level (most Chinese and Indian companies), we are more likely to see a similar collaboration now than ever before.