There is no "grandfathering" for US safety or emission standards. You meet the standards required for the current year or you stop selling the vehicle. Every time regulations change every model has to be tested and pass the new standard. That is a key decision point for automakers where we decided if it makes sense to spend the millions of dollars to update a vehicle to meet the new regulations or to stop selling it in the market. In the end it comes down to dollars and cents and the sales trend for the vehicle and that vehicle segment.
However, Mexico's emission and safety standards are more than a decade behind the USA and don't change nearly as often so it is much easier to keep making an old design there.
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