The ongoing strike at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. caused a 16 percent drop in sales in April, said General Motors Corp.’s (GM) sales analyst, according to CNNmoney.com. This included 15,000 in sales to fleet customers.

Workers at American Axle, a supplier of parts for GM’s full-size pickup trucks and SUVS, have been on strike since February, causing slowed or stopped production in about 30 GM plants. A strike at GM’s Delta Township, Mich., plant cost about 7,000 to 8,000 units of production of its large crossover utility vehicles, said CNNmoney.com.

GM hopes to recover the lost fleet sales this year, and plans to make up the production after the strike is over.

A trend noted by GM is that prices for cars and crossover utility vehicles will rise due to higher commodity costs and regulatory demands, said CNNmoney.com. Fewer pickup trucks and SUVs will be sold, as consumers purchase cars and crossover utility vehicles, and this change will cause auto makers to lose some revenue.