What's the news?
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has published its latest statistics on new car registrations and good news - they were up for the month of April, when compared to April 2017.
New cars sold in the fourth month of this year amounted to 8,102 units, a 3.33 per cent increase from 2017's comparable figure of 7,841 units.
But overall new car sales for the year to date remain depressed, with 79,897 new cars registered so far in 2018 compared to 83,823 by the same point last year - that's a drop of 4.68 per cent.
New Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) registrations were up in April too, with 1,800 sold this year representing a 6.51 per cent increase on the April 2017 figure of 1,690. Overall, LCV registrations year to date are up 5.39 per cent on 2017, at 14,323 units.
The new Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) sector is also experiencing a mini-boom in spring 2018: April saw a 4.74 per cent increase on April 2017's 232 registrations, with 243 in total this year, but overall they're down 8.31 per cent (1,158 units in 2018) year to date.
Imported used cars increased 19.31 per cent for April 2018 (8,649 units) compared to April 2017 (7,249 registrations) and year to date are 11.74 per cent up on 2017, at 34,763 units compared to 31,111.
Anything else?
Brian Cooke, SIMI deputy director general, said: "April's registration statistics released today are broadly in line with expectations. The slight increases in all sectors for the month can be attributed somewhat to the extra working days in April 2018 compared to last year, as Easter fell in March. Brexit continues to impact on business, as evidenced by the continued strong levels of used imports from the UK. Total new car registrations are projected to reach around 120,000 by the end of the year, a decline of 8.6 per cent on 2017."