Chevrolet swept both the 2014 North American Car of the Year with the restyled Corvette and North American Truck/Utility of the Year with the revitalized Silverado. While electric cars, hybrids, and ultra-high-gas-mileage technology filled Cobo Hall with a sea of advanced engine technology,  the awards were swept by two Chevy stalwarts — with nary an overhead camshaft found amid any engines available in either of the two vehicles — as the Corvette and Silverado won the hearts of tradition-bound selectors.

For 2014, Chevrolet Silverado has new design, engine improvements.

The car and truck announcements, voted on by 49 independent media types, kicked off the early morning start to two days of media presentations for a reported 5,169 automotive writers, broadcasters and bloggers who converged on Motor City. Their presentation was immediately followed by a parade of what was reported as 50 vehicle unveilings, many of them worldwide introductions.

The resurgent “domestic” manufacturers of the traditional Detroit Big Three made strong showings, and even though the global marketplace blurs the lines, with numerous import brands made in the U.S., and more U.S. brands making their vehicles outside U.S. borders, the delineation continues, which at least allows for more convenient categorization:

DOMESTIC

Ford unveiled its 2015 F-150 full-size pickup truck as the first official presentation, just minutes after arch-rival Chevy drove away with the 2014 truck/utility of the year honors. Ford, the perennial top-selling vehicle in the country, is preparing a true breakthrough vehicle for next year, featuring a much stiffer and fully boxed frame made from high-grade steel, and a body made from military-grade aluminum. Cynics more familiar with beer can flimsiness than the fact Audi has made its flagship A8 sedan of all aluminum for most of two decades, reacted with surprise and skepticism. But Ford’s intention is to improve performance and fuel economy by trimming 700 pounds from the new truck and supplementing the V8 engine, standard V6, and 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost turbocharged powerplant with a new 2.7-liter V6 EcoBoost with AutoStart. Ford already is far and away the leader among U.S. manufacturers in hybrid and electric-car technology, and it has revised the look of the new Fiesta subcompact to show off the new Fusion-inspired corporate face.

Among the biggest bits of news at Detroit was the unveiling of the new 2015 Mustang, with visual alterations to the future-retro ponycar and the addition of a new independent suspension, plus an EcoBoost 4 to join the V6 and V8 engines.

Chrysler introduced a sleekly attractive new 200 model, replacing the existing version, which was a refined version of the aging compact and will be built on the impressive Alfa Giuletta platform from parent Fiat. It will give Chrysler a stronger entry in that high-competitive category.

Mustang’s new exterior houses independent rear suspension.

Chrysler redoes the 200 onto an Alfa Giulietta platform.

Chrysler continues to make large strides in the truck/utility area, with its new 2014 Cherokee finishing as close runner-up to the Silverado (219 vote points to 185), and having already trumped the introduction of the Silverado by introducing a 3.0-liter Eco-Diesel V6 engine that powered the Ram 1500 to substantial victories in the Texas Truck Rodeo, and in other Truck of the Year awards including Motor Trend. The Ram was not all-new, so didn’t qualify for the North American Truck/Utility competition. The Eco-Diesel also is making a strong impression in the Jeep Grand Cherokee as a 2014 model.

General Motors was blown away with the dual victories of the Corvette and Silverado, and the third-place car in the renewed Cadillac CTS, which placed third behind the Corvette and Mazda3 after winning the Motor Trend Car of the Year. All that after winning the 2013 North American Car of the Year with the Cadillac ATS. At the Cadillac stand, a new ATS Coupe was introduced, attracting plenty of attention.

Chevrolet also has a new SS full-sized, rear-drive sedan joining the new Malibu and Impala, both new for 2014. Buick has revised an upgraded both the full-size LaCrosse and the midsize Regal for the new model year.

Timing was all-important for the Silverado. For the past two years, Ford’s Fusion, and before it the Escape, both were overlooked almost to the point of being boycotted by some members of the car and truck jury members, reportedly because there had been some recalls and production delays. The new Silverado was stricken by the news that 303,000 of the new 2014 models are being recalled and owners are being warned to not let the idle because of the threat of fires, but the news was released four days after the deadline for the final truck/utility of the year voting.

ASIA

Honda showed its just-released new Civic Coupe, which is its own car now, separated from the Civic sedans. Biggest news was the unveiling of the new 2015 Fit subcompact, the third generation of the popular hatchback introduced in 2006. Introduced last fall in Japan, the Fit already is the No. 1 seller in its homeland, and along with being restyled, the Fit gains some important advances. Using more ultralight high-grade steel, the car is more rigid, and is now 1.5 inches shorter but has 5 inches more rear legroom, and its 1.5-liter engine, which easily ran out of breath from its close-ratio 5-speed manual transmission, will have more horsepower and torque with revised production and direct injection, and gets a 6-speed manual, or a CVT (continuously variable transmission) to attain an EPA estimated 41 highway miles per gallon. The Fit will have a lot of standard equipment, including Bluetooth, USB outlet, rear camera, and available smart-key entry and lane-change warning.

Honda Fit restyle adds direct injection, 6-speed.

Honda’s Acura upscale line is about to streamline its whole array, and proved it with the introduction of the TLX concept sedan. Acura used to have the entry TSX, mid-scale TL, and top of the line RL, then upgraded the RL to RLX, and introduced the ILX as the entry level Acura. Next in Acura’s scheme is to eliminate the TSX and the TL, replacing them with the new TLX that will combine performance and luxury and fill the middle between the extremely high-tech RLX and the ILX to leave Acura with three sedan models.

Mazda made a run at Car of the Year with the new Skyactiv Mazda3 subcompact, finishing a close second to the Corvette (211 to 185), and has its new-for-2014 Mazda6 midsize sedan, bolstering the CX-5 compact crossover SUV.

Nissan pushed its coming autonomous Leaf electric car and its new Rogue, which came out late but was a candidate for truck/utility honors, and its Infiniti brand showed off the Q50, which is the newly revised replacement for the G37 line of sedans.

Toyota pretty well stood pat, with Toyota having just introduced a new generation of compact Corollas, following the reinvented RAV4, and the upscale Lexus IS models.

Biggest attraction at the Toyota/Lexus stands, as well as Nissan and others, was the display of concept cars — impressively futuristic models that may or may not be put into production, depending on public reaction.

Among the many concept cars were examples from Toyota…

…as well as from Nissan.