afraid the terminology is a little fuzzy...in europe it is normally the PRODUCTION year , which commences after the summer shut down ; any minor tweaks are normally put in at that point if possible , any line changes can then be made during shut down
with american cars you used to be able to buy , for example , a 2003 model year vehicle from january 2002 !!! I think it's called marketing
don't know about the uk , but france is still here , as am I ! not for much longer though , fire up the hymer and off to somewhere warmer for a few months , maybe get as far as estepona
[ she who must be obeyed doesn't like north africa ]