If you need to get the information from a command line interface, e.g., from a terminal or SSH session, you can't get it directly using the system_profiler command, but you can use information provided by that command to look up the information online.

$ system_profiler SPHardwareDataType
Hardware:

    Hardware Overview:

      Model Name: MacBook Pro
      Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,3
      Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
      Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz
      Number of Processors: 1
      Total Number of Cores: 2
      L2 Cache: 6 MB
      Memory: 4 GB
      Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
      Boot ROM Version: MBP53.00AC.B03
      SMC Version (system): 1.48f2
      Serial Number (system): W89491TF64C
      Hardware UUID: FDE9B14D-E531-569F-A1EF-D0D0D0D0D0D0
      Sudden Motion Sensor:
          State: Enabled

You can use the model identifier information to look up information on when the model was manufactured using Lookup Mac Specs by Serial Number, Order, Model, & EMC Number, Model ID @ EveryMac.com.

If you just want the model identifier, you can use awk to isolate that information.

$ system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | awk '/Model Identifier/ {print $3}'
MacBookPro5,3

When I looked up MacBookPro5,3, I saw 3 entries with a "subfamily" of Mid-2009 15" listed for each. All 3 were introduced on June 8, 2009 and discontinued on April 13, 2010. Using the processor speed information provided by system_profiler, I could narrow the selection down to a specific MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" and see the standard RAM and hard disk size for that model.

You can also enter the last 3 characters of a 11 character serial number to obtain that information from the site. Though, in my case I saw an iPhone and several desktop systems listed as well as one laptop model, though, since I knew it was a laptop, I knew which one was the appropriate one.

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