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Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says he has secured a commitment from car manufacturers in the United States that Ford and Holden will continue their current operations in Australia.

Ford and General Motors in the US have been hit by plummeting sales as consumers switch to smaller cars.

Mitsubishi has already scaled back its manufacturing operations in Adelaide.

But Mr Macfarlane says the decline in large car sales should not hit Holden and Ford and plants in Australia.

"We were keen to see the fallout from that not impact on the Australian operations," he said.

"As a result of the meetings we were able to get a clear commitment from both Ford and GM to continue their Australian operations."