Despite news that American Axle and the United Auto Workers are headed back to the negotiating table, General Motors is in need of new parts to activate some of its affected manufacturing facilities.

While the weeks-old strike had shut down GM’s light truck plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company was able to restart production there this week thanks to parts imported from American Axle’s Mexican facility. The parts plant, located in Guanajuato, Mexico, has also kept work moving at GM’s Silao, Mexico factory, as well as its SUV plant in Arlington, Texas. GM is also planning to use the Mexican-sourced parts to resume full-sized pickup production in Oshawa, Ontario starting the week of April 21.

Because of the backlog of SUV’s at GM dealerships however, the company plans to now shut down the Arlington facility and move the axle supply to pickup plants.

+ Automotive News: GM will use Mexican axles to reopen 2 plants (subscription required)

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