Right now Skoda is the sixth most popular manufacturer in Ireland with sales to the end of November of 9,026. The company’s most popular car — by miles — is the Skoda Octavia with a total of 3,978 units registered here in the last 11 months.

I have a female friend who, when I had the fantastic E-Class Mercedes Coupe earlier this year, was completely captivated by the ambient lighting which adorned the car’s interior.

IT may be that Citroen’s parent company PSA is in the throes of a serious collapse in market share across Europe right now and that the owners are becoming increasingly keen on a sale or part-sale of the group to General Motors, but ironically the French marque has hardly been in a better place in recent times in terms of its product line-up.