COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
6 Months Ended | ||||||||||||
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Jun. 30, 2019 | |||||||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
NOTE 12. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
We are subject to numerous lawsuits and claims arising out of the ordinary course of our business, including actions related to product liability; personal injury; the use and performance of our products; warranty matters; product recalls; patent, trademark or other intellectual property infringement; contractual liability; the conduct of our business; tax reporting in foreign jurisdictions; distributor termination; workplace safety; and environmental matters. We also have been identified as a potentially responsible party at multiple waste disposal sites under U.S. federal and related state environmental statutes and regulations and may have joint and several liability for any investigation and remediation costs incurred with respect to such sites. We have denied liability with respect to many of these lawsuits, claims and proceedings and are vigorously defending such lawsuits, claims and proceedings. We carry various forms of commercial, property and casualty, product liability and other forms of insurance; however, such insurance may not be applicable or adequate to cover the costs associated with a judgment against us with respect to these lawsuits, claims and proceedings. We do not believe that these lawsuits are material individually or in the aggregate. While we believe we have also established adequate accruals pursuant to GAAP for our expected future liability with respect to pending lawsuits, claims and proceedings, where the nature and extent of any such liability can be
reasonably estimated based upon then presently available information, there can be no assurance that the final resolution of any existing or future lawsuits, claims or proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.
We conduct significant business operations in Brazil that are subject to the Brazilian federal, state and local labor, social security, tax and customs laws. While we believe we comply with such laws, they are complex, subject to varying interpretations and we are often engaged in litigation regarding the application of these laws to particular circumstances.
On April 29, 2019, we announced that we were conducting a formal internal review of our emissions certification process and compliance with emissions standards for our pick-up truck applications, following conversations with the EPA and CARB regarding certification of our engines in model year 2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks. This review is being conducted with external advisors to ensure the certification and compliance processes for all of our pick-up truck applications are consistent with our internal policies, engineering standards and applicable laws. In addition, we announced that we voluntarily disclosed our formal internal review to our regulators and other agencies and were working cooperatively to ensure a complete and thorough review. During conversations with the EPA and CARB about the effectiveness of our pick-up truck applications, the agencies raised concerns that certain aspects of our emissions systems may reduce the effectiveness of our emissions control systems and did not fully comply with their requirements for certification. As a result, our internal review focuses, in part, on the agencies’ concerns. We are working closely with the agencies to enhance our emission systems to improve the effectiveness of all of our pick-up truck applications and to fully address the agencies’ requirements. Due to the preliminary nature of our formal review, our collaboration with our regulators to address their questions and concerns and the presence of many unknown facts and circumstances, we cannot predict the outcome of this review and process, and we cannot provide assurance that the matter will not have a materially adverse impact on our results of operations and cash flows.
Guarantees and Commitments
Periodically, we enter into guarantee arrangements, including guarantees of non-U.S. distributor financings, residual value guarantees on equipment under operating leases and other miscellaneous guarantees of joint ventures or third-party obligations. At June 30, 2019, the maximum potential loss related to these guarantees was $52 million.
We have arrangements with certain suppliers that require us to purchase minimum volumes or be subject to monetary penalties. At June 30, 2019, if we were to stop purchasing from each of these suppliers, the aggregate amount of the penalty would be approximately $57 million. Most of these arrangements enable us to secure supplies of critical components. We do not currently anticipate paying any penalties under these contracts.
We enter into physical forward contracts with suppliers of platinum and palladium to purchase certain volumes of the commodities at contractually stated prices for various periods, which generally fall within two years. At June 30, 2019, the total commitments under these contracts were $64 million. These arrangements enable us to fix the prices of these commodities, which otherwise are subject to market volatility.
We have guarantees with certain customers that require us to satisfactorily honor contractual or regulatory obligations, or compensate for monetary losses related to nonperformance. These performance bonds and other performance-related guarantees were $117 million at June 30, 2019.
Indemnifications
Periodically, we enter into various contractual arrangements where we agree to indemnify a third-party against certain types of losses. Common types of indemnities include:
We regularly evaluate the probability of having to incur costs associated with these indemnities and accrue for expected losses that are probable. Because the indemnifications are not related to specified known liabilities and due to their uncertain nature, we are unable to estimate the maximum amount of the potential loss associated with these indemnifications.
Purchase Agreement
In June 2019, we entered into a definitive agreement to acquire, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, all of the issued and outstanding shares of fuel cell systems provider Hydrogenics Corporation, other than shares already owned by The Hydrogen Company, representing an enterprise value of approximately $290 million, subject to customary closing conditions and shareholder approvals. The Hydrogen Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of L’Air Liquide, S.A., and Hydrogenics’ current largest equity shareholder, will maintain a non-controlling ownership interest in Hydrogenics. If Hydrogenics' shareholder approval is obtained, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019.
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