US Energy Department has approved Ford Motor Co.'s request for billions of US dollars in federal loans to help fund the development of new, fuel-saving vehicles and technologies, according to a Detroit News report on Monday.

Ford, along with the other Detroit automakers and some foreign manufacturers, applied for loans under the US$25-billion loan program of the Energy Department, which was approved by Congress last September.

Ford said in its business plan submission to the Senate Banking Committee in December that it expected to receive US$5 billion through the program by 2011.

The loan program was included in a 2007 energy bill, but without the money to pay for it. After prodding from Michigan lawmakers and the auto industry, Congress finally allocated the funds last fall.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2009)