I thought they crept far beyond "6 months early" con by the late 1990's. I recall seeing some "2000" models being sold ~Sep 1998. My son bought a new 2017 Prius for only $17K ~June 2017 because it had been sitting on the lot over a year.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans