KIA has become an Australian success story with ambitions to sell 35,000 cars here in 2005, across a range that includes a popular mini-car, people-mover and light commercial. And now perhaps, a successful small car in the shape of the Cerato. Very much a mechanical relation of parent Hyundai’s Elantra model, the Cerato is priced very keenly at launch and comes with a 2.0-litre engine, air-conditioning, dual airbags and cruise control as standard. The Cerato sedan – there’s no hatch version for now – replaces the Spectra in the Kia lineup, the Spectra in turn replaced the Mentor and Shuma. Cerato certainly takes the story on a step from that ordinary group of vehicles, but it still has a way to go.