As spring finally turns into summer the Irish motor industry can look back and see that what were once called 'green shoots' have now grown into a beautifully manicured lawn.
No you have not stumbled upon 'Gardner's Paradise' we are instead referring to new car sales figures as the latest data from SIMI show that sales in April were up 28 per cent on the same month last year.
This is the fourth month of sustained growth and, taken together, it means that so far this year 27 per cent more new cars have been sold than in the same period in 2013. That equates to a total of 57,793 new cars.
Volkswagen continues to lead the pack with 6,989 sales, 2,489 of which were Golfs making it the top-selling model in April. It was followed by the Nissan Qashqai (2,372) and Ford Focus (2,287) while Toyota and Ford round out the top-three best-selling manufacturers.
Commenting on the results, Alan Nolan, Director General, said: "The industry had been closely watching the trend this month as Easter can have a key impact, with two short weeks, hire-drive business and the potential for car sales to begin to slow down at this time of year. The results for April actually confirm that the level of demand has continued at the same rate as earlier months, reflecting increased consumer activity, which augers well in relation to progress toward economic recovery."
Anything else?
Commercial vehicle sales are often a better barometer of the domestic economy and sales of Heavy Commercial Vehicle (trucks to you and I) are also showing signs of significant improvement with numbers up 44 per cent year to date.