'When love-ly women car insurers and occasionally hate-d Korean car manufactures collide.'

Women car insurers - fed up being single? Not ready to concede that you're a bit rough around t'edges? Know every line from 'Bridget Jones?' or, simply not brave enough to convert to lesbianism? So where do love-lorn women car insurers turn next? For those who have tried, and spectacularly failed, at speed dating, there's now a new love child on the block. Speed dating. Only in a car, as opposed to a hired church hall/social club. And not just any car, but a Kia Piacanto. Now if that doesn't get disconsolate women car insurers in the mood, I don't know what will. Who needs a flirtatious Ferrari, or a come hither Porsche to attract the attention of the opposing gender, when you can get them eating out of your hands from the front seat of Kia's finest motoring hour to date. The Korean automobile assemblers claim that 1 in every 5 relationships (that's something attractive people involve themselves in) break up in the aftermath of a bit of a set to whilst in a car. And usually over one or the others lack of driving attributes.

So Kia thought what better (possibly concentrating on designing cars people actually want to purchase because they're pleasing on the eye, not just the purse) than to address the problem, head on. Hence their little socio-marketing dalliance the company are trumpeting as 'Drive Dating'. Spare us women car insurers the drum roll please. So how does it all work? Sorry, ill rephrase that - is there any chance of it working for lonely women car insurers out there? Er, possibly. According to the Kia horoscopes, the number 20 will figure in all romantic endeavours during the coming weeks. 20 Picanto's. 20 single guys. 20 single girls. At least 20 assorted animals. As the setting for this speed dating extravaganza is London zoo. Other than a fine restaurant, a romantic riverside, or Leyton Orient, where else would you take someone to impress the socks of them? The reptile house seems somehow apt. the premise behind all this heart-led nonsense was to ascertain just how compatible potential couples were in the confines of a well-constructed motor, prior to them dating in earnest. Aswell as arranging 20 red cars in the shape of a heart being a PR opportunity Kia simply couldn't afford to overlook.

Willing participants spent 3 minutes locked in an affordable car with a complete stranger, supposedly single, before banging on the glass and asking to be moved to another car. And another possible love match. Each vehicle had pre-set mood music pumped into its dashboard surround, and random cards with ice-breaker questions (conventional enquiry such as their likes and dislikes, break-ups and make-ups, and what annoys them most behind the wheel?) were left fortuitously on passenger seats. Having done their bit, the matter of combing your hair, disguising rampant acne with layers of foundation and spraying your underarms was left to the desperate, sorry, love-struck candidates. Anyhow, once everyone had lapped each other, and either impressed or offended (always a fine line) Kia directed those that wished to continue to a bar for a debriefing. And to afford those that weren't physically repulsed a chance to get to know one or two people a little better.

Kia suggests that they'll make events of this nature more commonplace, with another pencilled in their diary for this week, if the feedback is promising. Otherwise they'll just continue to bash out uninspiring cars for the frugal. Quite how they'll determine the level of success garnered from such an impromptu gathering remains to be seen; to the casual observer I guess it's just a bit of harmless fun. To the cynic, its blatant marketing with no point. Arguing the case for the defence is Paul Williams, who by day is Managing Director of Kia Motors (UK) Limited, and by night, our very own Cilla Black. This is what he wailed;" Arguing in the car is a common experience that many couples go through. We wanted to help couples at the earliest stages of their relationship find out how well suited they are on the road, as well as off. Regular dating events can often feel enforced and awkward so we set out to create an event that mirrored a real life situation and allowed single people to 'road test' their relationship... literally!" and that's his final words on the subject. On the topic of women's car insurance, Girlmotor.com would like to have the final say. And they do. Repeatedly.

Date - 15/09/2006