<P> For instance, aficionados will classify the Holden Commodore (a popular Australian car) according to the following series: VB (introduced in 1978), VC (1980), VH (1981), VK (1984), VL (1986), VN (1988), VP (1991), VR (1993), VS (1995), VT (1997), VX (2000), VY (2002), VZ (2004), VE (2006) and VF (2013). This is done for the simple reason of making the cars more easily distinguished . </P> <P> In the automotive industry the model year is absolutely defined only by the manufacturer, and not by any local vehicle registration practices or marketing opinions . </P> <P> Industry practice varies between markets according both to the level of exports to North America, and to the extent to which US - owned subsidiaries dominate the domestic automarket . In the 1960s and 1970s, many new models were traditionally introduced at the London or Paris motor shows during October, and manufacturers owned by US corporations as well as domestically controlled UK auto - makers tended to follow US auto - industry conventions in respect of model years . The concept was never so universally applied in Europe as in North America, however, and since the 1980s, the more commercially critical European Motor Shows have been the March Geneva Motor Show and the September Frankfurt Motor Show or Paris Motor Show . New models have increasingly been launched in June or July even in the UK, where the two remaining US - owned subsidiaries no longer design and build distinctively British Ford and Vauxhall models . All this has left the US - style model - year concept increasingly absent from the European domestic automarkets . </P> <P> An automotive model year is categorically defined by the 10th digit of the vehicle identification number (VIN), and simply indicates any manufacturer - specified evolution in mid-cycle of a model range - such as revised paint options, trim options or any other minor specification change . The 10th VIN digit does not relate to the calendar year which the car is built, although the two may coincide . For example, a vehicle produced between July 2006 and June 2007 may have a 7 as the 10th digit of the VIN, and another vehicle produced between July 2007 and June 2008 may have an 8 in the 10th digit - with the change - over date varying depending on manufacturer, model and year . </P>

When is the model year end for cars