KIA, perhaps even more than Hyundai, is a stirring giant who has at last quit hitting the snooze button. Models such as the Soul and latest-generation Sorento point to a marque on the rise, while the new Cerato Koup – perhaps the best-looking car you can buy for not much cash – proves it. Believe it or not, picking fault with the stylish $23,680 two-door manual model really is hard in the context of what its creators have set out to achieve. Yes, it isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but the Kia does offer small-car buyers something fresh, sassy and fun – for far less than the designer clothes the Koup wears suggests.