I might be able to shed a little light on this matter. As we all know most bikes are made in Taiwan and China. You would think that because bikes are manufactured and partially assembled in the same factory that they would all have the same componentry. Well this is not the case. As it turns out it all comes down to the amount of components the factory has in stock. What often happens is the factory will build so many bikes with a set amount of components, and when those components run out they substitute it with another so bike production is not hindered. If they have to downgrade something on the bike, such as the groupset, they will often upgrade another part of the bike, such as the wheels.

In order to avoid the questions as to why one model comes with different components, they try to keep the bike componentry consistent within each country. So when you visit different countries websites you often see that the bikes can differ substantially.

Obviously it is difficult for bicycle company importers to know how many bikes to bring into the country as I think it all comes down to what bikes are on the market at that point in time. If there is a shortage in supply they would import more and if you look closely it sometimes will meet the specification outlined for another country.

Bike companies are trying to eliminate these problems by releasing mid-year models (which Giant did this year) and slightly altering the model name of the bike.

I think there is a lot of sneakiness in the bike industry. How often do you buy a bike, and the next year you see that exact frame in the same colour on a lower model bike.