There was no recovery in the falling pace of new car sales across Australia in May, the country's peak motor industry group says.

The number of vehicles sold last month was down 8.1 per cent compared to May 2018, according to data issued by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) on Wednesday.

A total of 92,561 new cars were sold during May contrasted with 100,754 in the corresponding month of 2018 - a decrease of about 305 vehicle sales per day.

Read Next FCAI CEO Tony Weber said the numbers were in line with a trend that has been clear since the start of the year.

"We have attributed this trend to known market factors such as an economic downturn, drought, political events, the tightening of financial lending and lack of confidence in the market," Mr Weber said.

Sales dropped by 9.4 per cent in Queensland, 8.8 per cent in NSW, 7.7 in the ACT, 7.5 per cent in Western Australia and 7.0 per cent in Victoria when comparing the figures to May 2018.

The data recorded a 5.4 per cent rise in new car sales in Tasmania, the only jurisdiction in which purchases increased, from 1,657 to 1,747.

Mr Weber said he was "optimistic that the market will improve over the next few months" now that the federal election had concluded.

The VFACTS monthly retail sales figures listed the Toyota Hi-Lux as the top selling model in May 2019 followed by the Ford Ranger and the Toyota RAV4.

Toyota was the most popular brand during the month, selling 20.3 per cent of all new cars in May, following by Mazda with 9.3 per cent, Hyundai with 8.8 per cent and Ford with 6.3 per cent.