A recent big cut in Kia Rio prices has made it the cheapest 4-door 1.4-litre car on the Irish market. Rio is a good-looking car, larger in size than its price competition and certainly chasing close to the segment competition. Look on it as a Toyota Corolla/Opel Astra/Ford Focus competitor in size and segment. And no, it doesn't beat them in a lot of respects. Except in price. Good in the metalpressing, but inside is behind the quality of today’s Japan and Europe. The 75PS engine is torquey and makes Rio a tidy car to drive in traffic, though it’s not the quietest car in the class. Sales were already on the up before the price cut, maybe due to that good-looking TV advertisement with a skyscraper background. Stars: 4/10

This is a similar platform and has the same running gear package to the Mentor, except the bodywork of its hatchback format is snazzier. It may not quite be the claimed ‘dawn of a distinctive design’, but most people wouldn’t at all be ashamed to be seen in this one. Sizewise, like many Korean vehicles, it straddles segments, somewhere between a Ford Focus and a Toyota Avensis, and the price rather reflects this. Again, a hefty price difference between the UK and here means the Shuma can’t really get the ‘budget’ motoring epitaph it enjoys over there. And, without the best interior treatments of its competitors, it needs something like that to make it attractive. Stars: 4/10

The largest Kia on this side of the world comes in Ireland with a 2.5-litre V6 and a wish to tilt at BMW. Those who snigger at the thought find themselves rather astonished at the amount of specification they get on this one compared to an equivalently priced Bavarianwagen, though. OK, so maybe the dream is just that, but there’s a certain elegance in the lines of the Magentis, although the sense is purely American, particularly in that butch grille which retros back to 70s Cadillacs. It fills a slot in a car range list, and there are around two of them out there, so there are fans for it. They’re probably enjoying the easy-driving experience, and aren’t thinking about what happens at the end of their threeor four years of ownership. (All sound familiar? Yep, it’s a Hyundai XG in Kia drag.) Stars: 4/10

An MPV for up to six, with styling more aimed at North America and Europe but which still attracts here - it doesn’t look tall and unwieldy. The high driving position is nice, the light-coloured plastics and cloths in the interior are pleasant, though again American in look and feel. We have the feeling that the Carens is quite a tough car, and it is also very flexible in its seating arrangements in the 6-seat format. The 1.8-litre engine outputs 109bhp and motors the Carens on comfortably in most conditions. But you can get a decent Renault Scenic for the money, and a potentially better resale value. Stars: 5/10

This is the Korean manufacturer’s tilt at the large MPV market, and in this country it is sensibly only sold with a 2.9-litre turbodiesel that outputs a whopping 143bhp and has buckets of torque on tap. It IS big, rather brash in execution, very comfortable, and just the job for a party at a rainy race day with its reversible ‘Captain’s Chairs’. A GS ‘Executive’ version considerably ups the price but adds leather and a four-speed autobox as well as aircon. And, there’s a cute ‘commercial’ version that could probably be outfitted well to make a travelling office for a robohack like me if I ever decide to really take to the road and reactivate my great-grandfather’s journeyman characteristics. Hopelessly overpriced on the Irish market, though. Stars: 4/10