Although concepts may be a little thinner on the ground at major motor shows like the North American International Auto Show in Detroit than they used to be, it's still the kind of event where the big names of the industry like their newest models to make their debuts. So, here's a look back at five of the best debuts made at Detroit 2018.

It may have been heavily trialed prior to the show, but few models are likely to make as much of a global impact with buyers around the world as BMW's brand new X2 compact crossover. It delivers the same kind of coupe styling as the X6 that proved such a surprising sales success when it was originally launched, but in a more compact and affordable package that's sure to make it another massive sales success for BMW going forward.

The 2019 Acura RDX may have been billed as a prototype at the show, but it's basically a production-ready preview of the new generation of the RDX crossover. Acura appears to be going back to the original idea of the RDX being more of a sporty performance crossover, but it's also part of a concerted move by the luxury arm of Honda to make buyers see the brand as a little more exciting and daring.

Pickups are huge news in America, so the return of the Ford Ranger as a 2019 model was a massive deal at the show. The rest of the world may already be familiar with the midsize Ford pickup, but this 2019 model has been tailored specifically to make it appeal to the U.S. market.

Even though the Jetta is Volkswagen's biggest-selling model in the U.S., perhaps the biggest news about the all-new 2019 Jetta was that it's not going to be offered in Europe as the nameplate is being discontinued due to poor sales. It's a shame VW didn't at least try with this all-new version as it looks like a huge improvement on the current car and could well have arrested the nameplate's decline in Europe.

Few things interest the media as much as a movie star story, and Ford really pulled one out the hat at the last minute by announcing a new limited edition Mustang Bullitt is going to be produced. And just for good measure, the Blue Oval also managed to find the original car driven by Steve McQueen in the movie to display alongside the new model, which many thought had long been lost.