Dealers Ask Italy to Reduce Luxury-Car Tax

Italy's auto dealer group Federauto is urging Prime Minister Mario Monti to roll back a newly imposed tax increase on premium vehicles that it says is "destroying" their luxury car business.

Sales of Ferrari supercars and Maserati luxury sport cars in Italy plummeted 52% and 70%, respectively, in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period of 2011, the group notes.

Federauto blames both the tax and the government's zealous campaign to find tax evaders, which it calls a "witch hunt" that demonizes luxury-car owners. Late last year, Italian police began setting up roadblocks and recording the license plate numbers of high-priced vehicles. Authorities then swooped down on owners who have declared small incomes.

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, chairman of Fiat SpA's Ferrari unit, told Bloomberg News last month that the campaign is a "huge crisis" for Ferrari dealers in Italy because consumers are afraid to be seen in showrooms.