![]() For instance, Honda started selling the 2022 model-year Odyssey minivan early in the 2021 calendar year as a result of a supplier-related issue.Īs a spokesperson for the company shared with us at the time: "The timing of model year introductions varies from model to model for a number of reasons, some of which are out of our control. More recently, supply-chain issues-largely related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other factors-have forced automakers to launch new model-year vehicles at earlier and later dates. Though the Mazda CX-9 retained its fuel-economy crown among its non-hybrid peers for the 2017 model year, the brand had no way of knowing this at the time of the SUV's debut. Like Kia's spokesperson, though, Mazda's acknowledged that marketing also played a role in the CX-9's model-year designation: "Based on 2016 numbers, the CX-9 the best fuel economy of any non-hybrid mid-size three-row in its class." Had Mazda marketed the CX-9 as a 2017 model-year vehicle, it potentially would have lost that brag-worthy claim. At the time, a Mazda spokesperson noted to us that several factors went into the company's decision to label the late-release CX-9 a 2016 model and not a 2017, including Mazda's desire to avoid potential consumer confusion that can come from selling a next-model-year vehicle in the current calendar year. Meanwhile, Mazda chose to release its then-new 2016 CX-9 in the middle of the 2016 calendar year-nearly a year and a half after its Kia competitor. Due to this wide latitude, manufacturers often bring out vehicles well before-and after-the traditional pre-holiday period. Conversely, manufacturers can introduce and release a new vehicle for sale as late as December 31 of the corresponding calendar year, so a 2024-model-year vehicle can be introduced up to and including December 31, 2024. Under Environmental Protection Agency rules, manufacturers can introduce a next-model-year vehicle for public sale as early as January 2 of the preceding calendar year-for example, a 2024-model-year vehicle can be sold starting on January 2, 2023. This custom, however, is by no means set in stone. Some 90 years later, the tradition of releasing new vehicles in the final months of the preceding calendar year remains common. However, that practice changed in the mid-1930s, after FDR signed an executive order that dictated automakers release their new vehicles in the fall of the preceding calendar year "as a means of facilitating regularization of employment in the industry." Auto assembly-line workers are typically idled during a new-model changeover, and the president reasoned that if their idle period were to happen earlier in the fall, autoworkers would be able to maintain employment through the holiday season and would thus be able to spend more money. ![]() Originally, automobile model years tracked calendar years. Your calendar may display the year 2023, but somehow new-car dealerships across the country are starting to stock 2024-model cars and trucks. Vehicle model years frequently differ from the official calendar year. It's not just magazines that appear to bend the space-time continuum. How else can you explain the way we always send you a magazine dated at least one month ahead of the month of receipt? In fact, all you need is a subscription to Car and Driver to see the theory at work. You don't need to travel at the speed of light to witness time travel. UPDATE 2/27/23: Details related to supply-chain issues, as well as specific 20 model-year information, were added to this story.
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