COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
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| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
NOTE 14. 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; 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 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.
Loss Contingency
Engines systems sold in the United States must be certified to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) emission standards. EPA and CARB regulations require that in-use testing be performed on vehicles by the emission certificate holder and reported to the EPA and CARB in order to ensure ongoing compliance with these emission standards. We are the holder of this emission certificate for our engines, including engines installed in certain vehicles with one customer on which we did not also manufacture or sell the emission after treatment system. During 2015, a wash coat quality issue in certain of these third party after treatment systems caused some of our inter-related engines to fail in-use emission testing. In the fourth quarter, the vehicle manufacturer made a request that we assist in the design and bear the financial cost of a field campaign (Campaign) to address the technical issue purportedly causing some vehicles to fail the in-use testing.
While we are not responsible for the warranty issues related to a component that we did not manufacture or sell, as the emission compliance certificate holder, we are responsible for proposing a remedy to the EPA and CARB. As a result, we have proposed actions to the agencies that we believe will address the emission failures. As the certificate holder, we expect to participate in the cost of the proposed voluntary Campaign and have recorded a charge for this Campaign in other operating expenses of $60 million ($38 million after tax) in the fourth quarter. We are pursuing a cost sharing arrangement with the vehicle manufacturer which could reduce the economic cost of this Campaign. We will record a cost recovery in the period when a binding agreement is obtained.
We currently do not expect any fines or penalties from the EPA or CARB related to this matter.
Guarantees and Commitments
From time to time 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 third-party obligations. At December 31, 2015, the maximum potential loss related to these guarantees was $11 million.
We have arrangements with certain suppliers that require us to purchase minimum volumes or be subject to monetary penalties. At December 31, 2015, if we were to stop purchasing from each of these suppliers, the aggregate amount of the penalty would be approximately $155 million, of which $77 million relates to a contract with a components supplier that extends to 2018. Most of these arrangements enable us to secure critical components. We do not currently anticipate paying any penalties under these contracts.
During 2014, we began entering into physical forward contracts with suppliers of platinum and palladium to purchase minimum volumes of the commodities at contractually stated prices for various periods, not to exceed two years. At December 31, 2015, the total commitments under these contracts were $60 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 $72 million and $76 million at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.
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.
Leases
We lease certain manufacturing equipment, facilities, warehouses, office space and equipment, aircraft and automobiles for varying periods under lease agreements. Most of the leases are non-cancelable operating leases with fixed rental payments, expire over the next 10 years and contain renewal provisions. Rent expense under these leases was as follows:
The following is a summary of the leased property under capital leases by major classes:
Following is a summary of the future minimum lease payments due under capital and operating leases, including leases in our rental business, with terms of more than one year at December 31, 2015, together with the net present value of the minimum payments due under capital leases:
In addition, we have subleased certain facilities under operating leases to third parties. The future minimum lease payments due from lessees under those arrangements are less than $1 million per year for the years 2016 through 2018.
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