Quote:
Originally Posted by karateboi87
It's all marketing. Sometimes they also release current year model within the current year. You really have to judge a car by it's in-service date for things like warranty anyway.
If they base it on build date, then on January 1st they would be switching to "a new model". Say the new X5 gets released this September, would you expect them to call this a 2018 model then come January 1st they suddenly call it a 2019 model?
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Exactly. There's a simple explanation, which is basically the same as how a lot of companies are currently operating in 'fiscal year' 2019. Despite not being the 'calendar' year 2019, BMW's 2019 'production' year will start in July.
I think the whole world shifted to think like this after all of the annoyance in the 80's and 90's with the half-year models, and things like that. "Oh, you own an '86 Supra?" "No, I don't, I own an '86.5 Supra." It sounds like a child saying they're 8 and a half years old. Pedantic, but everything matters when it comes down to marketing.