Acting on his promised austerity measures, the new Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi put up 151 luxury cars, including Jaguars and Maseratis, used by Italy's political elite, for sale on eBay.
According to The Telegraph, the government set up a separate auction section on the website to find buyers for the cars, which were the most detested symbols of Italy's political class. The cars were earlier owned by interior, justice and defence ministries.
Reuters reported the Italian government spends nearly $ 1.37 billion every year to run the cars. It said though the auction is unlikely to reduce significantly Italy's $2 trillion debt, it could be seen as a move with potential to win people's trust and consolidate the opinion that drove the Prime Minister to power this February.
"Online bidding has been concentrated on a grey Alfa Romeo 166, with a current top offer of 8,621 euros. A BMW 525d, with camel-colored leather seats, is going for 15,050 euros after 75 bids," Reuters reported.
It further said the bidding is yet to open on two Jaguars which were owned by Justice Ministry, which once commanded more than 830 chauffeured cars.
The Telegraph reported despite many cars having clocked 125000 km, Italians are queuing to buy them.
"By Friday there had been nearly 90 offers for an Alfa 166 and 75 offers for a BMW 525D," The Telegraph said.
The Independent said the sale of 151 cars represents only a small fraction of the 60,000-strong chauffeured fleet the Italian politicians have their disposal. As a comparison, the UK has only 200 similar cars.
According to The Independent, the anti-establishment group M5S said that the government plans to buy more cars after selling the present lot. The auction is expected to go on till April 16.
