Last week, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (“ACEA”) released data on passenger car registrations for December 2022. The European Union (“EU”) passenger vehicle market soared 12.8% last month to 896,967 units, marking the fifth straight month of growth . Registrations in Italy and Germany witnessed a year-over-year rise of 21% and 38.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, Spain and France saw registrations decline 14.1% and 0.1%, respectively. For full-year 2022, new car registrations contracted 4.6% to 9,255,930 units, owing to supply chain snarls and chip concerns. During the first 12 months, three of the major EU markets witnessed a decline in registrations, including…