THE Kia Cerato is one of those quiet achievers gnawing its way into the consciousness of Australian small-car buyers.

And deservedly so. Even toward the end of its lifecycle, the previous-generation Cerato remained an attractive buy across almost every measure, and, apart from being a little off the pace in terms of active safety tech, it still represented a lot of car for the money.

The new-generation model tested here seemed to come along so quickly that we couldn’t help but wonder if Kia was risking a case of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. It’s certainly not the first time we’ve had this thought with a Kia, the Sportage mid-size SUV being a case in point.

After a week driving the new Cerato Sport sedan, we did experience a bit of disappointment déjà vu, but the sheer value for money on offer here snapped us quickly back to reality.