President Barack Obama’s administration has bought almost a fourth of the Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. hybrid vehicles sold since he took office, accelerating federal purchases as consumer demand wanes.
The U.S. General Services Administration, which runs the government fleet, has bought at least 14,584 GM and Ford hybrids since Obama became president in 2009, according to sales data obtained by Bloomberg under a Freedom of Information Act request. And all told, the companies sold 63,434 of those vehicles during that period, according to data compiled by Autodata Corp.
“At some point, the reality is that for this technology to be accepted, it needs to be done without a government crutch,” said Jeff Schuster, director of forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Mich. “But without a huge gas-price increase or further government demand, the natural demand just isn’t there.”
The cars made up 10 percent of the government’s total vehicle purchases over the past two fiscal years, up from less than 1 percent in fiscal 2008, data show.
Consumer sales of hybrids are headed for their third consecutive yearly decline. Government agencies and businesses have said they also will purchase all-electric models.
About 3,100 of the hybrids purchased by the GSA were paid for out of $300 million that the agency received from the 2009 economic stimulus package, said Sara Merriam, a spokeswoman for the agency.
“This is the beginning,” Merriam said. “Our main goal is to increase the fuel efficiency of the federal fleet. The other goal is to drive the market toward cleaner technologies.”
