While the Big Boyz of Detroit were in DC on bended knee yesterday to bail out the companies that brought us the SUV, Detroit’s president of Smart Car, Dave Schembri, spoke to wOw about an alternative for an affordable trip to grandmother’s this holiday season.

Enter: The eco-friendly cute Smart Car for Two, an appropriately named two-seater automobile, manufactured by Mercedes-Benz in France. Sold in 36 other countries for a decade with more than a million cars sold, the 8.8-foot-long Smart Car hit the U.S. market last January. And sales show no sign of slowing down!

We didn’t know this until we spoke with Schembri, but the idea for the Smart Car actually came from Swatch watch inventor Nicolas Hayek in the early 1990s. Like Swatch’s interchangeable bands, Smart Cars have differing panels so that an owner can change their Crayola car color whenever they please and have what looks to jealous neighbors like a new car. At 33 miles per gallon in the city and 41 mpg highway, Smart is the most fuel-efficient, lowest-cost-of-ownership fully gas-powered vehicle on the road. And, yes, that’s taking mileage, residuals, actual cost and insurance into account. Sounds smart to us.

And so does Schembri, who offers his take on the bailout, tells us why he never considered advertising on television and promises never, ever to gloat. Oh, and he tells us all how we can have the smartest looking Smart Car on the block!

wOw: GM, Ford and Chrysler asked for a $34 billion bailout plan and the House passed $14 billion. Obviously things aren’t going so well on their end. How is your business doing in light of the economy? Do you need a government bailout? Seems everyone’s asking for one these days.

Dave: For Smart USA, we launched our company in January 2008. America really embraced the concept of the micro car. It has done extremely well and it has exceeded our expectations for the first year. We delivered our first car on January 16 to a Manhattan resident and by late October we delivered our 20,000th car. It’s a car that really has the opportunity to change the landscape of our highways in the United States, because of its size, concept and because of its price. We have been able to reach out to a whole variety of different consumer groups.

wOw: Are you gloating over your business now?

Dave: We’ve been very successful this year and really can stamp our launch phase of this project as a success even in this difficult economy. But no, we’re not gloating at all. I’ve been in this business long enough to never take one sale for granted. Never, ever gloat! You just have to keep working hard every day to improve.

wOw: For those not in the know, what is a Smart Car?

Dave: Smart stands for Swatch Mercedes Art. It is a car that was developed and designed to really get around crowded urban areas in a unique way. It’s unique through its design and size — at 8.8 feet long, it’s about the size of most people’s side sofa in their living room. And it’s 5’1" tall. It gives you the benefit of sitting so that you’re eye-to-eye with other drivers. I’m 6’1" and I fit in there just fine. We had two people 6’7" who sat side-by-side very comfortably, so it has tremendous leg and head room. We have four air bags, two front and two sides including head and thorax protection.

wOw: So who’s buying Smart?