There’s a new sport coupe out there, one boasting great power, great looks and an amazing amount of refinement and sophistication, especially considering the source. It’s an example of what a car company that’s on the ball can do, even with tough times facing the industry. With this car, its manufacturer is signaling the competition that it’s not going to take new challenges, or tough times, lying down.

The car is the 2010 Ford Mustang GT and, as luck would have it, I had the keys to one the same week that I was due in Las Vegas to drive another game-changing car: the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe. If someone had told me just a couple years ago that Hyundai would make such a sophisticated performance coupe at a bargain price, I’d have laughed my ass off. Not now. The Genesis Coupe is for real.

Considering the price and performance parity between the two, comparing them was a no-brainer. Heck, the Genesis Coupe has been billed as a Mustang Killer since it was unveiled at last year’s New York Auto Show. In all honesty, I thought one of the two cars would blow the other out of the water. Maybe the Ford’s American V-8 power would shame the V-6 Korean, easily making up for its lack of finesse. Or the Genesis Coupe might be so nicely balanced that every ugly wart on the Mustang would be enlarged by contrast.

Instead, the 2010 Ford Mustang GT still has all that chest-thumping power, but with a healthy dose of refinement unknown to Mustangs since, well, ever. On the other hand, despite having “only” a V-6, the Genesis coupe is a blast to drive, with power to spare and precise handling. Picking a winner between the two was going to be tougher than I thought.

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By about my fifth try, I was finally getting the hang of drifting the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe. The 3.8-liter, 306-hp V-6 engine had no problem kicking out the rear end, and the Torsen limited slip differential that was part of the Track package on the car made for nice, controllable and extremely smokey powerslides. If the big grin on my face was any indication, Hyundai’s new coupe is going to make a lot of enthusiasts very happy.

The most amazing part of all this, to me at least, is that destroying the rear tires on this car while banging its engine against the rev limiter came not surreptitiously in a hidden corner of some parking lot found during a boring press drive. No, it was in front of Hyundai’s PR and engineering staff, with none other than Genesis Coupe project manager Derek Joyce giving me thumbs up and egging me on while he waited for me to get the hell off the loop so he could have another go.

Clearly, Hyundai is serious about this car, and wants the world to know it.

The sport coupe arena is littered with the bodies of the fallen. Enthusiasts have high expectations, and if a car company decides it’s going to enter this Colosseum, it must have its act together. Which is why the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe is such a revelation. Sure, the company’s been on a roll lately, but not even the extremely competent Genesis Sedan prepared me for the way Hyundai absolutely nailed the sport coupe formula. This car pegs all the “I want it” benchmarks with virtually no deal breakers, and all of it at a bargain price.

Oh, the price. That’s the best part. It starts at $22,000 for the turbocharged four-banger, and if you opt for the V-6 and check every single option box, you’ll still barely crack $30,000. All of you clamoring for an inexpensive, fun to drive, front-engine, rear-drive sport coupe, it’s here. And it’s a freakin’ Hyundai.

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Have your eye on a 2009 Hyundai Genesis sedan, but are worried about your job situation? Hyundai to the rescue! In cooperation with Walkaway USA, Hyundai is introducing an unprecedented offer for new car buyers: If you lose your job in the first year of ownership, simply return it for little or no cost to you. Called the Hyundai Assurance Program, it’s good for the first year of ownership, and is in conjunction with Hyundai’s already excellent warranty program.

The basics are this: If you find yourself laid off, disabled, without a driver’s license, transferred overseas, declaring personal bankruptcy or, y’know, dead within the first 12 months of ownership, the Hyundai Assurance Program

will pay difference between the trade-in value and what’s left on the loan, up to $7,500. There are a couple of caveats: You must have made at least two regular payments, and have to take care of any payments due before filing a claim. If the $7,500 doesn’t cover the entire difference, you have to make it up yourself. Regardless, it’s not a bad deal, and since the lousy economy is one of the factors driving car sales into the sewer, this kind of assurance might actually help perk up sales.

On the other hand, it’s not entirely without risk. It could be that sales will rise, but Hyundai will wind up saddled with a bunch of cars that people suddenly couldn’t afford to own. A similar thing happened with Mitsubishi and its zero-zero-zero financing scheme a few years ago, and it nearly ruined the company. Still, hats off to Hyundai.