Cybertruck arrives, manual mania and a hybrid renaissance: The biggest surprises in autos for 2023

Auto industry watchers and enthusiasts will agree that 2023 did not go as planned.

Demand for cars with manual transmissions jumped, reversing a yearslong dip. Tesla started building the Cybertruck, an electric truck the industry had largely written off.

Higher sticker prices and interest rates did not stop consumers from buying new cars and trucks. And good luck trying to find Toyota's new Prius or any hybrid at a local dealership; the geeky hybrid may be the hottest car to own right now.

Here are five trends that surprised industry insiders in 2023.

Tesla's Cybertruck is finally here

That's right, it happened. Naysayers doubted that Tesla would be able to build the extremely futuristic electric truck, which Elon Musk unveiled at a highly publicized event in 2019. At least 12 units will be delivered to customers this year, with production to stretch into 2025.

"Despite the long gestation time, the buzz never went away," Ed Kim, president and chief analyst at AutoPacific, told ABC News. "The Cybertruck is the most buzzworthy vehicle of the year."

Tesla owners and the automotive community cannot stop chattering about the Cybertruck's implausible arrival, Kim said.

"It is eliciting the same level of controversy when it did four years ago," he noted. "Word on the street is that these 12 vehicles were hand-built and didn't come off an assembly line."

The angular, stainless-steel pickup truck can tow over 11,000 pounds and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds, according to Musk, who said production could reach 250,000 units a year. Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power, said the Cybertruck will be more niche than the common Tesla Model Y or Model 3.

"It's aimed at a very small part of the market and will be fairly limited in volume," he said.

Manuals make a comeback

Three pedals have never been so popular. The nearly forgotten manual transmission has steadily made a comeback as electric vehicles take over production lines and parking lots. Enthusiasts have long extolled the benefits of rowing one's own gears and more drivers are clearly paying attention. Porsche, one of the few automakers that still make manuals, said 70% of customers for the new 911 Carrera T model choose the seven-speed over the PDK transmission.

"Prior to this model arriving, customers needed to select a Carrera S or above to get a manual gearbox," a Porsche spokesperson told ABC News of the T, which pairs a manual transmission with a 3.0-liter flat-six engine that makes 379 horsepower.

"The Carrera T speaks directly to enthusiasts with a significantly sportier setup including many features that wouldn’t otherwise be available until much more exclusively priced models," the spokesperson added.

Acura's new Integra Type S only comes with manual transmission option, similar to Honda's Civic Type R. That has not slowed down sales of the Integra; in fact, dealers have been called out for heavily marking up the MSRP. The sporty sedan produces 320 hp from a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, an increase of 120 hp over the previous version.

Toyota has also listened to enthusiasts' cries over the lack of manuals on the market: its GR Supra, GR Corolla and GR86 models were designed specifically for manual fans. BMW recently said it would bring back the manual transmission for its 2024 Z4 M40i model (which has the 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine variant).

Owning a manual is so much more than saving $1,200 versus an automatic transmission, said Jominy.

"They're more fun and they're coming back," he said. "Their strength has been underreported. Hopefully manuals will hang on a little longer."

'Humble' hybrids are in demand

More Americans are willing to try electrification -- but with a caveat. Enter the lowly hybrid. Partially electrified vehicles are seeing massive demand and interest from motorists who are not 100% ready for a fully electric conveyance.

"Sales are taking off for the humble hybrid," Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds, told ABC News. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a hybrid -- they're almost all sold out. They're vehicles for people who want to live their life with more benefit and less complexity."

Market share of hybrids rose to 9.7% in November from 4.9% the year prior, according to Edmunds data. Moreover, hybrids are selling faster and at less of a discount than both EVs and gas-powered models.

The new Toyota Prius, which gets an estimated 57 mpg, has been helping to lead this hybrid renaissance. Sexy and highly efficient, the Prius is now nearly as hard to get as a six-figure sports car. Toyota, a longtime advocate and pioneer of hybrid technology, also makes a hybrid Corolla, Camry and RAV4.

Honda has been reporting record sales of its new Accord Hybrid model. Luxury plug-in hybrids, like the Volvo V60 Recharge and BMW XM, are becoming the preferred choice for consumers conscious of carbon emissions.

"It's kind of remarkable how well hybrids are doing," said J.D. Power's Jominy. "Hybrids are a well-priced option and have a real advantage at a dealership. The messaging of hybrids [and the tech] is so much simpler for consumers to digest."

Joe Eberhardt, president and CEO of Jaguar Land Rover North America, said the company is seeing unprecedented demand for its PHEV sport utility vehicles.

"There is so much demand globally that we can't fulfill it," he told ABC News. "We sell every PHEV we get. We could sell so much more."

Tesla opens its Supercharger network

Tesla's Supercharger network cannot be beat; it's reliable, fast and relatively painless -- all reasons why Tesla's dominance over competitors persists. The auto industry was stunned when Tesla said it would open its network to non-Tesla EVs starting next year with at least 7,500 fast chargers. What's even more shocking may be the decision by nearly every automaker to move to a unified, connector standard like NACS (North American Charging Standard), also known as the standard Tesla charger.

Kim of Auto Pacific said a standard connector among nearly all EVs could still cause headaches for drivers when charging on the go.

"Moving to a unified connector standard won't solve the reliability issues we're seeing with non-Tesla public chargers," he said. "A standardization of connectors is not the silver bullet."

Right now, Tesla's Supercharger network is a closed ecosystem that supports just four models, Kim argued. What happens when that number triples?

"The key to a seamless and good charging experience is software and we don't know how well Tesla's software is able to deal with a multitude of vehicles," he said.

Jominy said recent sales of EVs may be slowing until new models are built with the NACS plug and not the Combined Charging System (CCS) plug that are found in non-Teslas and require an adapter for charging.

"Who wants a a CCS plug?" he said. "Tesla's Supercharger network is so fantastic."

Consumers keep buying new cars

High inflation, recession worries, two global wars -- none of that mattered much to U.S. consumers. Sales of new trucks and cars largely beat industry expectations in 2023, even with an average APR of 7.4% and double-digit increases in MSRP. New sales are expected to reach 15.5 million this year.

"The strength of the consumer and the lack of a recession shocked me," said Jominy. "Dealers are selling more cars even with the lack of affordability."

The average listing price for a new vehicle was $47,456 in November, according to Cox Automotive. For luxury vehicles, the average price paid in November was $63,235.

Drury, of Edmunds, pointed out that luxury vehicles are more likely to sit on dealer lots than vehicles priced under $50,000, a reversal from 2021 and 2022.

"Expensive cars were moving at a faster clip previously," he said. "It seems people are going back to their normal routine and normal considerations."