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There is no regulation/law that I'm aware of that says a car produced on such and such a date must be marketed as such and such a model year. Traditionally, most car makers used to introduce their next year's model in Sept (a car made in Sept '09 would be a 2010 model year). When sales are slow, or when mfrs want to stimulate sales, they often start the next model year (the latest and greatest) earlier. This deplorable practice has been called "model year creep". What is against the law is someone selling a "leftover" 2010 model, for example, as the new, new 2011 model. Stuff like this used to happen a lot back in the 50's and 60's with VW Beetles when no one (particularly consumers) could tell the difference between a '65 and a '66 model (maybe in fact there was no difference). This was because the creeps (dealers) didn't want to discount the moldy oldy siting on their lot. But the FTC said that if you live by the model year, you die by the model year, so you can't re-designate model year. Having to discount the moldy oldy is a "legitimate market force". That's how I got my brand new '09 z4 in the Spring of 2010 with a $12,000 discount. Thank you FTC.
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