Highlights of Detroit auto show include 2014 Corvette, Cadillac ATS, and Ford Atlas concept

With the North American International Auto Show full of new cars and concepts, some of the best moments include the unveiling of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, big reveals in the American luxury market from Cadillac and Lincoln, as well as the Shelby Focus ST.

The 2014 Corvette Stingray was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show.

The North American International Auto Show, the annual fest in the hub of the US motoring industry, was full of new life this year.

Manufacturers rolled out some impressive new models, and reinvigorated old ones, hoping to battle for better position in the revived US market and the booming Chinese one.

Much of the action was in the luxury segment, as car builders vie for the high margins they can earn from well-paid Americans and China's nouveau riche.

Here are the show's highlights:

-- CORVETTE: The all-new Corvette, branded the Stingray to evoke the 1963 model, but with styling that evokes Italian supercars while still retaining a bit -- see the back end -- of the Chevrolet identity. At first glance it was not so different from the Ferrari F12 sitting a few steps away, its own design accommodating a few American muscle car lines. The test will be on the track: the Corvette sports 450 horsepower and carbon fiber based weight reductions, and the base model hits 100 kilometers an hour (60 miles per hour) in four seconds flat.

"This car is the reason I work at GM," General Motors executive Mark Reuss said.

-- BMW: The German titan introduced a spanking new 4-series coupe, an aggressive, low-lying sports car longer and wider than the 3-series. Still in concept mode, it doesn't look far from being ready to roll.

-- AMERICAN LUXURY: GM's Cadillac Division and Ford's Lincoln should be doing well, given the strength of sales of Europe's luxury car makers. But they have been slipping, and both pushed to reverse that with new premium vehicles. Lincoln showed its MKC compact crossover concept, targetting Mercedes-Benz's GLK350 and the Audi Q5. Cadillac introduced its fuel efficient hybrid coupe, the ELR, with a 300 mile (480 km) range on one charge. Cadillac rang up a victory when its ATS sedan, launched last year, garnered North American Car of the Year honors in Detroit.

-- TRUCKS: Chrysler's beefy Ram 1500 won the honors of North American truck of the year at the show, but Ford garnered more attention with its Atlas concept pickup, featuring snazzy new electronics for guiding the driver in tight situations and energy-saving wheel hub louvers, among other innovations. Meanwhile GM introduced an all-new Silverado, also with new fuel efficiency measures including a variable displacement engine, that could steal a march on the market-dominant F-150 as Ford fans wait for the Atlas' new tricks to make it to the market.