BBC Learning English
Words in the News
Italian car sales crash
4 January 2013
Sales of high performance cars have fallen in Italy showing that even the rich are
beginning to feel the effect of the recession. Mark Duff reports for the BBC:
Italians' love for fast cars is legendary. But glamour is, it would seem, no defence
against the current economic gloom.
New figures from the Italian motor dealers' federation show that the country's best
known luxury sports cars, Ferrari and Maserati, have seen their sales in Italy plummet
over the past year; Ferrari's by more than 56%, Maserati's by 72%.
The actual number of vehicles sold is, of course, tiny. Just 248 Italians forked out for a
Ferrari last year, not surprising, perhaps, when each car costs the equivalent of up to
$300,000.
The head of the motor traders' federation blamed high taxes for the fall in sales.
However, while poorer Italians may register an uncharacteristic flicker of
schadenfreude at the news that their richer compatriots are cutting back, they won't
have much time to gloat.
Official figures recently showed that almost a third of Italians are on the verge of
poverty, while the average Italian family is bracing itself for an extra Ź 585 of
government taxes.
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
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Vocabulary and definitions
legendary famous, very well known
economic gloom financial recession
plummet fall very quickly
forked out for paid a large amount of money for
register an uncharacteristic flicker have a small emotion that is not typical
of
schadenfreude a good feeling when something bad happens to
someone else
compatriots people of the same nationality
to gloat to feel or show pleasure at someone else's bad luck
on the verge of very close to
bracing itself for preparing itself (for bad news)
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/01/130104_witn_italian_car_sales_crash.shtml
Related News story
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20907374
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
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