General Motors is on a roll this year at the Detroit Motor Show, celebrating the debut of the seventh generation Corvette, unveiling a new electric Cadillac, and accepting the award for the 2013 North American Car of the Year. The car winning this accolade for GM is the new Cadillac ATS.

The ATS is the brand’s first attempt at making a proper sports sedan, and they’ve given it everything. Endless amount of time and money has been spent on developing this car in America, and in Germany at the Nurburgring, where the engineers perfected every last detail to make sure the ATS is up to the standards of this segment’s undisputed champion, the BMW 3 Series.

Now they must be happy that their efforts are recognized by a jury of 49 automotive journalists who picked it as North America’s Car of the Year. It is not the ATS’ first award, of course, as before this it was named Car of the Year by Esquire, and   the Motor Press Guild, as well as several other awards.

The real prize for people who have worked on this car, however, will be reputation they hope the ATS will gain as the new benchmark for handling in this class. That is, of course, yet to be achieved.

“This is a very meaningful honor for the entire Cadillac team, especially the men and women who build the ATS in Lansing, Michigan, and our dedicated and talented designers and engineers,” said Bob Ferguson, GM vice president, global Cadillac. “A car like ATS is the result of incredible commitment and focus. That’s the only method for creating a great performing luxury car.”