Berlusconi rules out car incentive rollover-report
MILAN, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Italy will not extend incentives for trading-in old, polluting cars beyond the end of the year, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday in Peking, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
"It has never been planned ... nobody has spoken about incentives for trading-in old cars," he said at a press conference on a visit to China, the agency said.
On Thursday, Industry Minister Claudio Scajola said Italy -- home to car maker Fiat (FIA.MI) -- would prefer to rely on incentives rather than following the United States with direct intervention to help car makers.
Italy currently has incentives in place to encourage people to trade-in older, more polluting cars but they are set to end on Dec. 31, 2008.
Italian car maker Fiat (FIA.MI) expects the domestic market to fall 18 percent in the fourth quarter and said global demand for its products next year could fall 10 to 20 percent.
Fears that global financial market turmoil will bite hard into the real economy have prompted governments to start looking at ways to support industry. (Reporting by Jo Winterbottom; Editing by Rupert Winchester)
