Just as General Electric is now adapting its fleet plan and acquiring less electric vehicles than intended, the Obama administration and the US General Services Administration cut purchases of hybrid and electric models by one-third last year and bought mostly Asian brands. More than half were purchased through Hyundai, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Honda. The government has been bringing in more vehicle by foreign-owned companies, much of it having to do with the head start these companies have had over the Detroit Three. The Korean-made Hyundai Sonata hybrid surpassed Ford’s Fusion hybrid as the top-selling alternative-technology vehicle purchased for the federal fleet. US hybrid purchases had been made almost exclusively with domestic automakers in previous years. The administration had set a goal of only acquiring alternative fuel vehicles for the federal fleet by 2015, but those numbers have been declining. Some of the decline came from expiration of stimulus fund — $300 million was spent on fuel-efficient vehicles for the federal fleet in 2010, but the vehicle volume fell in 2011 after the funds dried up.
