Papua New Guinea govt. admits buying Maserati cars was a mistake, will be selling them

John Pundari, the Minister of Finance of Papua New Guinea, has announced a flash sale of Maserati Quattroporte sedans the government of the country acquired in 2018. The original decision stirred up a squall of hatred, forcing the government to admit that it was ‘a terrible mistake.’

The APEC Summit took place in the country in 2018. In order to provide its participants with adequate means of transportation, the government acquired 40 Maserati luxury cars. It also purchased three Bentley Flying Spur and a few hundred other, less expensive cars.

The move met with extreme opposition from the people of Papua New Guinea and summit guests alike. Many said it was immoral to spend millions of dollars in state money on deluxe transports when 40 percent of the country’s population survived on less than $1 USD per day. A few guests of the APEC-2018 even refused to use their designated vehicles. For their own part, the authorities had claimed that there would be no negative consequences, because all cars would be sold to private owners later.

This has now turned out to be wishful thinking, however. Apparently, the government has only managed to sell a few vehicles since the summit. Commenting on electric Maserati as the vehicle provider, Pundari called it ‘a terrible mistake’ and explained that the country never considered the fact that Maserati did not have a single office, service or dealership to represent it in Papua New Guinea. Unsurprisingly, no one wanted expensive cars they would not be able to maintain in proper working order.

As of right now, the fleet is officially on sale with large discounts across the board. Each vehicle goes for around $114,000 USD, down from the $150,000 average buying price.