No. Widely used by manufacturers (and that's what we follow on IMCDB) to differentiate major spec changes. I think France are alone with not using them in Europe.

JLR certainly use them cf: http://newsroom.jaguarlandrover.com/en-in/jaguar/news/2014/02/jag_15my_xf_press_release_250214/
Vauxhall too: https://www.vauxhallfleet.co.uk/news/vauxhall_car_model_year_16_changes.html