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Car industry goes quiet

Despite the winter chill dealers are gearing up to cash-in on end-of-financial-year splurges

The Carsguide diary has been full for more than a year with the latest and greatest from the 40-plus brands with showrooms in Australia, but June is quiet. And it's not just the winter chill.

We're seeing things go quiet as all the big brands concentrate on doing big numbers through one of the two biggest months of the year. They know June is the time to cash-in on end-of-financial-year splurges, boosted this year by the Federal government's 50 per cent investment allowance.

June is also the time to take stock and plan for a second-half splurge, with Toyota and Holden planning major back-end action on the Camry and Commodore and everyone from Alfa Romeo to Volkswagen — the MiTo and Golf GTi — promising something good before the end of 2009.

We're also moving into the mid-summer launch season in the northern hemisphere, and will be reporting soon on everything from the new Kia Sorento coupe to the Porsche Panamera and BMW's super SUV, the X6.

And then there is Great Wall, which is just about to preview the first Chinese utes and cars to be sold in Australia.

So it's quiet now but the chill will fade fast in coming months.

Paul Gover is a former CarsGuide contributor. During decades of experience as a motoring journalist, he has acted as chief reporter of News Corp Australia. Paul is an all-round automotive...
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