Well, what some little local shop does is a moot point, seeing as all the significant car makers in the world have been using the same basic VIN standard for quite a few years now. It *does* matter because all the major car makers are now global companies selling their product in that same global marketplace. Think about the economies of their manufacturing scale, and the need to sell the least possible variations of product. That's what drives then, and is why you can buy cheap new cars.
It also matters because national governments need a common baseline from which to regulate and legislate. Why would a modern car company want, or need, to spend money adapt to a relatively small individual market's idiosyncrasies and peculiar legal requirements? They don't, and they won't for any longer than they have to. They have been changing your laws and conventions, apparently without you noticing, and they will continue to do it. Resistance is futile, as the Vogon guard said. The common VIN format is but one example. I could give you others.
Here's another point to ponder. The fact that Japan drives on the left is likely to delay the UK's switch to driving on the right by some small number of years. Just think about that for a little while before you move your mouse pointer to the 'reply' button. There's a good debate to be had there, but it may take someone with better than your blinkered view to have meaningful input to the discussion. Think for a moment or two about the cost savings for the car companies...
Whatever. You're a dinosaur.