cwerdna said:
BTW, is the terminology "Mark 1" and "Mark 2" what Nissan's using or is it something you came up with?)
Mk1, Mk2...... is industrial terminology used to distinguish between iterations of a product or device. It is quite common in the aerospace, automotive, and heavy industrial markets. In the Japanese industrial markets the term Gen1, 2,... is also used. This is independent from the manufacturer's model designation.
For example, the current Honda Civic is referred to as the Gen10 Civic, and the current VW Golf is referred to as the Mk6 Golf. Porsche on the other hand only tends to use Mk1 and Mk2 to refer to mid-cycle product refreshes.
In the case of the LEAF, this is its first product refresh, hence the designation Mk2. Use of the term Mk2 rather than model year 12, or 13 makes it easier to have a discussion that may span across geographies that have different trim specifications and model cycles.
While the Mk1 car is still being built for european markets, the Mk2 is also being built along side the Mk1 in Oppama, and is now available for sale in Japan. The US specification Mk2 is also starting to be built in Smyrna for sale starting in January/February.