Automobile manufacturers reported the sales of new vehicles rose 26% in May compared to last year despite the slow recovery of the American economy. Americans bought over 1.3 million new vehicles last month according to Autodata Corp., giving automobile manufacturers a reason to add jobs and increase production. Analysts say the numbers are distorted because last year major Japanese auto companies were dealing with shortages brought on by the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. This year they posted some of the largest gains. Industry analysts, however, had predicted an even better year over year increases, predicting the annualized sales rate would be 14 million to 15 million. Much of the higher demand for new vehicles is being blamed on the age of existing models on the road. Vehicle registration data shows the average vehicle age at 10.8 years. Better sales, combined with the deep restructurings in recent years, have also resulted in healthy profits for the car companies.

Auto makers expressed confidence the industry will remain on an upward trajectory. “I don’t believe that the employment data in and of itself will have an impact,” according to Ken Czubay, Ford’s U.S. marketing and sales chief. “The dealers are telling me that they had excellent traffic over the weekend. There is significant pent-up demand in the marketplace.”