American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., a major supplier of parts to General Motors Corporation (GM), will close its largest factory and move the work to its plant in Mexico, according to the Detroit Free Press. At least 500 workers will lose their jobs. The Free Press cites a United Auto Workers (UAW) official who says that the U.S. factory in Detroit, Michigan, will close next month at the same time as the majority of GM factories begin their previously announced summer shutdowns; when it reopens, only 232 of the company's most senior employees -- those whose employment goes back to 1994 when the company was founded -- will still have jobs. The plant that is being closed makes parts for the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, sales of which have dropped 45 percent so far this year; GM accounts for 74 percent of American Axle's business. A spokesperson for American Axle would only tell the Free Press that the company has been consolidating its Detroit operations and would not give details of job cuts. Last year, UAW workers engaged in a three-month strike against American Axle that resulted in wage and benefit cuts.