The marketing people at Kia will probably not agree with this, but their latest two door offering is as much about making a statement as it is about filling a market niche. We are talking about the Kia Koup – a two door variant of the Cerato sedan. Kia has conservative aspirations for Koup and in cricket parlance Koup sales haven't bothered the scorer all that often since it's release in September. But, we suspect there's more to Kia bringing the stylish Koup into Australia than sales.

Which brings us to Koup. This has to be the best-looking coupe – make that passenger car - to come out of South Korea. In essence that is the point Kia is making: It has the ability, the wherewithal, to design cars that stand on the international styling stage with no apologies required. It's this bold – not brash – statement Koup brings as part of its arsenal to convince Aussie buyers Kia has arrived – with a capital A.

It's fair to say the car's appearance does outweigh it's performance. Just. What the appearance does not outweigh is the price: $23,690 for the manual and $25,690 for the four speed automatic. Koup shares a 2.0 litre Theta II engine with Cerato sedan and hits highway speed in 9.3 seconds. Our test car was the five speed manual variant. It's a refined transmission with the lever knob at the natural fall of your left arm. Our main complaint with the Koup manual is that the accelerator is a little trigger happy. Combined with a clutch that grips early this means first-gear starts, until you become accustomed to the way it operates, can be a little untidy - and uncomfortable for passengers.

Steering wheel controls include simple to use cruise and audio controls. The finish is largely a black plastic affair, but there are flashes of red stitching on the steering wheel and padded armrests and gear lever console. There's also a storage compartment-cum-armrest between the comfortable seats. In the hot Queensland sun the air-conditioning took 33-plus heat in its stride. We also like the easy to use A/C controls. The centre console is capped by a glass face which, along with soft metal and chrome coating finishes, breaks up the dark, but not drab interior. Koup caters well for technofans with MP3 and iPod connectivity standard.

Koup's boot is good for a travelling couple with 358 litres of space and of course there's a 60/40 split for the rear seat adding more room if needed. It's interesting to compare the interior size between the Cerato Koup and the new sedan. Front head room is 33mm less in the Koup, rear headroom is 58mm less, front legroom is up by 8mm, rear is down by 28mm, front shoulder room is down by 1mm, rear down by 59mm, front hip room up by 10mm and rear down by 45mm. So in overall terms it is a tighter fit for passengers.

On road the Koup is quiet, even at speed, thanks to a simple, uncluttered exterior and clever design with a lowered front bumper bottom lip, underfloor airflow deflectors ahead of each wheel and an underbody engine cover all helping to reduce drag. The car sits comfortably at 110 km/h and the engine revs easily out to 6000 rpm as you push through first, second and third gears. Parking in tight spots is a breeze and driver vision is reasonably good, given the nature of coupe design. The car points well into corners with a hint of understeer. But the rear seems a little unsettled when cornering on uneven surfaces and at times when pushed hard into corners the suspension seems a little ponderous. We suspect the suspension could be tweaked to improve things and perhaps this is what Kia have in mind at some later date: a GT variant with sports suspension and a turbo bolted to the 2.0 litre engine. If the Koup is a sign of Kia's future then we are in for exciting times.