Italy: Hundreds of executive cars to be sold on eBay By News from Elsewhere...

...media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring Published duration 28 March 2014

media caption Alan Johnston: "Would you buy a used car from an Italian politician?"

Italy's new government is selling off hundreds of executive cars used by government officials, in an online auction on eBay, it has been reported.

A list of 151 car makes and models for sale has been posted so far - among them are dozens of BMWs, Alfa Romeos, and Lancias. There are also a few surprises, namely nine high-powered Maseratis owned by the Defence Ministry, and a couple of Jaguars.

The initiative is championed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who says the official vehicles have come to be seen as a symbol of wasteful government spending, according to La Repubblica. He had previously held similar auctions when he was mayor of Florence, and promised to do the same at the national level shortly after becoming premier.

In one of his first posts as the Democratic Party secretary, Renzi tweeted: "Why should an undersecretary have an official car? The undersecretary should go by foot," the newspaper says.

image copyright Ebay image caption The cars up for auction include BMWs, Maseratis and Jaguars