U.S. Government Orders 17,600 Big Three Vehicles

U.S. Government Orders 17,600 Big Three Vehicles

WASHINGTON -- As President Obama promised a week ago, his administration is advancing plans for the purchase of new government fleet cars to spur U.S. vehicle sales and improve the fuel-efficiency of government-owned cars.

The government's order is for 17,600 fuel-efficient vehicles from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler by June 1. The total tab comes to $285 million, which will be drawn from the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

The government will order 2,500 hybrid sedans by April 15 and will order by September 30 vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, hybrid buses and all-electric vehicles.

"By swapping out less efficient federal vehicles for new hybrid and fuel-efficient ones, this strategy will reduce gasoline consumption by 1.3 million gallons per year and prevent 26 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere," the White House said in a statement.

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.