COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
3 Months Ended |
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Mar. 31, 2023 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
NOTE 11. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Legal Proceedings
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; environmental matters; and asbestos claims. 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 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 June 28, 2022, KAMAZ Publicly Traded Company (KAMAZ) was designated to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. We filed blocked property reports for relevant assets and are seeking relevant authorizations to extricate ourselves from our relationship with KAMAZ and its subsidiaries, including our unconsolidated joint venture with KAMAZ, in compliance with U.S. law.
On April 29, 2019, we announced that we were conducting a formal internal review of our emissions certification process and compliance with emission standards for our pick-up truck applications, following conversations with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) regarding certification of our engines in model year 2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks. This review is being conducted with external advisors as we strive 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. During conversations with the EPA and CARB about the effectiveness of our pick-up truck applications, the regulators raised concerns that certain aspects of our emissions systems may reduce the effectiveness of our emissions control systems and thereby act as defeat devices. As a result, our internal review focuses, in part, on the regulators’ concerns. We are working closely with the regulators to enhance our emissions systems to improve the effectiveness of all of our pick-up truck applications and to fully address the regulators’ requirements. Based on discussions with the regulators, we have developed a new calibration for the engines in model year 2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks that has been included in all engines shipped since September 2019. During our ongoing discussions, the regulators turned their attention to other model years and other engines, most notably our pick-up truck applications for RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks for model years 2013 through 2018 and Titan trucks for model years 2016 through 2019. Most recently, the regulators
have also raised concerns regarding the completeness of our disclosures in our certification applications for RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks for model years 2013 through 2023. We have also been in communication with Environmental and Climate Change Canada regarding similar issues relating to some of these very same platforms. In connection with these and other ongoing discussions with the EPA and CARB, we are developing a new software calibration and will recall model years 2013 through 2018 RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks. We accrued $30 million for the RAM recall during the first quarter of 2022, an amount that reflected our current estimate of the cost of that recall. We are also developing a new software calibration and hardware fix and will recall model years 2016 through 2019 Titan trucks. We accrued $29 million for the Titan recall during the third quarter of 2022, an amount that reflected our current estimate of the cost of that recall.
We will continue to work together closely with the relevant regulators to develop and implement recommendations for improvements and seek to reach further resolutions as part of our ongoing commitment to compliance. Based upon our discussions to date with the regulators which are continuing, such resolutions may involve our agreeing to one or more consent decrees and paying civil penalties. Due to the presence of many unknown facts and circumstances, we are not yet able to estimate any further financial impact of these matters. The consequences resulting from our formal review and these regulatory processes likely will have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and cash flows, however we cannot yet reasonably estimate a loss or range of loss.
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 March 31, 2023, the maximum potential loss related to these guarantees was $42 million.
We have arrangements with certain suppliers that require us to purchase minimum volumes or be subject to monetary penalties. At March 31, 2023, if we were to stop purchasing from each of these suppliers, the aggregate amount of the penalty would be approximately $161 million. These arrangements enable us to secure supplies of critical components and IT services. 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 March 31, 2023, the total commitments under these contracts were $38 million. These arrangements enable us to guarantee 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 $126 million at March 31, 2023.
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:
•product liability and license, patent or trademark indemnifications;
•asset sale agreements where we agree to indemnify the purchaser against future environmental exposures related to the asset sold; and
•any contractual agreement where we agree to indemnify the counterparty for losses suffered as a result of a misrepresentation in the contract.
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.
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