Mexico's austerity-minded president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on Monday said his government has so far raised some 3.2 million U.S. dollars from auctioning off the presidential fleet of luxe armored vehicles.

The weekend auction put about 200 vehicles on the block that were formerly used by the president's military security to ferry the head of state and other top officials around in style.

Lopez Obrador, who described the auction as "very successful," said the funds would be earmarked "for social programs, to help people with disabilities, the elderly and (pay for) scholarships."

Among the vehicles purchased was an armored Audi that former President Enrique Pena Nieto used.

According to Lopez Obrador, the car was bought for 2 million pesos (about 100,000 U.S. dollars) by a businessman from northern Mexico who offered to lend it to him when he needed it. He said he was pleased by the offer, but declined.

More auctions are in the offing.

"There are going to be other auctions because there are still a lot of vehicles. And we are going to sell planes and helicopters, which we estimate will bring in 10 billion pesos (524 million dollars)," he said.