Stephen Colbert to Ford CEO: Mustang’s tops for…

Mustangs, government bailout, Detroit bankruptcy and anti-union sentiment were squeezed into a tongue-in-cheek interview with Ford CEO Alan Mulally who was a guest Thursday night on the Colbert Report.

Mulally was in New York and appeared live on the show with irreverent comedy talk show host Stephen Colbert.

"I love that new guest smell," Colbert said at the top of the show in announcing his upcoming guest, promoting a segment with the caption "Mustang Sally."

Mulally was in New York to unveil the all-new 2015 Mustang that will go on sale next fall. An exuberant Colbert described Mulally as "an icon of American capitalism."

The CEO played straight man to Colbert's quips about the power of a Mustang to attract the opposite sex and his labeling of General Motors and Chrysler as Bolsheviks for taking government assistance in 2009 when they filed for bankruptcy.

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Mulally's attempts to take the high road included an explanation that the best way to help now-bankrupt Detroit is by hiring people and bringing work back to America.

Colbert's solution: pulling out the gold fillings of pensioners.

Mulally is not the first Detroit auto exec to trade barbs with Colbert. In April, 2012, former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz appeared to promote his book Icons and Idiots. The interview ended in an impromptu push-up contest.