USA Today survey: 13 percent of CEOs drive a hybrid

USA Today asked 90 CEOs what they drive and thirteen percent said they drive a hybrid. Here are the some of the reasons the CEOs gave for choosing a hybrid:

• Phil Libin, CEO of the Sunnyvale, California technology company EverNote, says his Lexus GS450 is like "driving a giant Bluetooth headset. ... Hybrid-ness means several extra screens of status indicators."
• Bob Peterson, president of Melton Truck Lines, does not think his Camry hybrid is as "manly" as the GMC Yukon Denali SUV he traded in but he was tired of sending oil money to Venezuela and Iran.
• Bert Hancock, owner of Robert Hancock property management, says "this is Warren Buffett country, where people are suspicious of those with flashy jewelry and big cars." Bert says his employees will think he is a "pompous jerk" if he drove a black Hummer.

Ralph Bianculli, CEO of supply distributor Paradigm Group (and driver of an '07 BMW) says before you object to CEOs "prancing about in a gas-guzzling foreign car" ask yourself: if you needed a surgeon, would you want one that drives a '07 Mercedes or a '95 Chevy Malibu? Pictured above is Patrick Sweeney, CEO of Odin Technologies, with his Prius. That's an airport in the background. He is also a pilot.

Related:

• Video: 12 consumers consider buying a hybrid
• 100 Silicon Valley executives to drive plug-in hybrids

[Source: USA Today]