Editing Model year (section)

=== United States and Canada ===
{{multiple image
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| image1            = Chevrolet Corvette C7 Convertible (Les chauds vendredis 2019).jpg
| caption1          = MY2019 Chevrolet Corvette
| image2            = Chevrolet Corvette C8 Stingray blue.jpg
| caption2          = MY2020 Chevrolet Corvette
}}

Automobiles in the United States and Canada are identified and regulated by model year, whereas other markets use production date (month/year) to identify specific vehicles, and model codes in place of the "year" (model year) in the North American make-model-year identifier.

In technical documents generated within the auto industry and its regulating agencies such as the U.S. [[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]] and [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] and [[Transport Canada]] and [[Environment Canada]], the letters ''MY'' often precede the year (as in ''MY2019'' or ''MY93''). Even without this prefix, however, in the North American context it is usually the model year rather than the vehicle's calendar year of production that is being referred to.

The new model year typically begins in August to September of the preceding calendar year, though can be as early as February, such being the case for the fourth generation 2022 [[Acura MDX]], which started production in January 2021. This was partly due to the advertising of a new model being coordinated with the launch of the new [[television season]] in late September, because of the heavy dependence between television to offer products from automakers to advertise, and the car companies to launch their new models at a high-profile time of year.<ref name="television">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/arts/television/23netw.html |url-access=subscription | work=The New York Times | title=A Television Season That Lasts All Year | first=Bill | last=Carter | date=September 23, 2008 | access-date=April 5, 2010}}</ref> Imported cars use the model year convention in the U.S. and Canada, even when this system is not used for the same cars when sold in other countries.

The concept of yearly styling updates (a practice adopted from the fashion industry) was introduced to General Motors' range of cars by [[Alfred P. Sloan]] in the 1920s. This was an early form of [[planned obsolescence]] in the car industry, where yearly styling changes meant consumers could easily discern a car's newness, or lack of it.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.autonews.com/article/20080914/OEM02/309149950/annual-model-change-was-the-result-of-affluence-technology-advertising |url-access=subscription |title=Annual model change was the result of affluence, technology, advertising |work=Automotive News |location=US |date=September 14, 2008 |access-date=February 3, 2018}}</ref> Other major changes to the model range usually coincided with the launch of the new model year.,<ref name="television"/> for example the 1928 model year of the [[Ford Model A (1927–1931)|Ford Model A]] began production in October 1927 and the 1955 model year of the [[Ford Thunderbird]] began production in September 1954.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ford Model A Tudor on Assembly Line, Ford Rouge Plant, Dearborn, Michigan |date=October 21, 1927 |url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/319178/ |website=The Henry Ford |access-date=29 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Classic T-Bird Differences |url=http://www.portholeauthority.com/thunderbirdETC/tbird/tbirddesc.html |website=Porthole Authority |date=Sep 2012 |access-date=29 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Revisiting Classics: The Original Ford Thunderbird (1955-1957) |url=https://drivezing.com/revisiting-classics-the-original-ford-thunderbird-1955-1957/ |website=DriveZing |first1= Cedric |last1=Jackson |access-date=29 July 2019 |date=13 September 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729091918/https://drivezing.com/revisiting-classics-the-original-ford-thunderbird-1955-1957/ |archive-date= 29 July 2019 }}</ref>

Model year followed with calendar year until the mid 1930s until then president [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] signed an executive order to release vehicle model years in the fall of the preceding year in order to standardize employment in the automotive industry.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Fink|first=Greg|date=2016-11-11|title=America's Next Top Model Year, or: Why New-Car Model Years Aren't in Sync with the Calendar|url=https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15345331/americas-next-top-model-year-or-why-new-car-model-years-arent-in-sync-with-the-calendar|access-date=2021-09-13|website=Car and Driver|language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913225742/https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15345331/americas-next-top-model-year-or-why-new-car-model-years-arent-in-sync-with-the-calendar/ |archive-date= 2021-09-13 }}</ref> The practice of beginning production of next year's model before the end of the year has become a long-standing tradition in America.<ref name=":0"/>

For purposes such as [[Vehicle Identification Number|VIN]]s and [[United States emission standards|emissions control]], regulations allow cars of a given model year to be sold starting on January 2 of the previous calendar year. For example, a 2019 model year vehicle can legally go on sale starting January 2, 2018.<ref>
For legal purposes, various definitions for "model year" are given in various federal laws, including [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/7521- 42 USC 7521(b)(3)(A)], [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/4064- 26 USC 4064(b)(4)], and [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/32901- 49 USC 32901(a)(15)]</ref> This has resulted in a few cars in the following model year being introduced in advertisements during the NFL [[Super Bowl]] in February. A notable example of an early model year launch would be the [[Ford Mustang (first generation)|Ford Mustang]], introduced as an early 1965 model (informally referred to as "1964{{frac|1|2}}") in April 1964
at the [[1964 World's Fair|World's Fair]], several months before the usual start of the 1965 model year in August 1964.

For [[recreational vehicle]]s, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission allows a manufacturer to assign a vehicle a model year that is up to two years later than its date of manufacture.<ref>{{cite web |title=What Year Is It? Is RV's Model Year Important, and What Does Law Require? |url=https://www.faegrebd.com/en/insights/publications/2014/7/what-year-is-it-is-rvs-model-year-important-and-what-does-law-require |website=www.faegrebd.com |access-date=26 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref>