CUMMINS INC. AND CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE 13. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
We are defendants in a number of pending legal actions, including actions related to the use and performance of our products. We carry product liability insurance covering significant claims for damages involving personal injury and property damage. We also establish reserves for these and other matters in which losses are probable and can be reasonably estimated. In the event we are determined to be liable for damages in connection with actions and proceedings, the unaccrued portion of such liability is not expected to be material. We also have been identified as a potentially responsible party at several waste disposal sites under U.S. 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 deny liability with respect to many of these legal actions and environmental proceedings and are vigorously defending such actions or proceedings. We have established reserves that we believe are adequate for our expected future liability in such actions and proceedings where the nature and extent of such liability can be reasonably estimated based upon presently available information.
U.S. Distributor Guarantees
Since 1997 we have had an operating agreement with a financial institution that requires us to guarantee revolving loans, equipment term loans and leases, real property loans and letters of credit made by the financial institution to certain independent Cummins and Onan distributors in the United States, and to certain distributors in which we own an equity interest. In the first quarter of 2006, we amended, restated and simplified the terms of the operating agreement and removed the Cummins guarantee of distributor borrowings.
If any distributor defaults under its financing arrangement with the financial institution, and the maturity of amounts owed under the agreement is accelerated, then we are required to purchase from the financial institution at amounts approximating fair market value certain property, inventory and rental generator sets manufactured by Cummins that are secured by the distributors financing agreement.
The operating agreement will continue to be in effect until February 7, 2009 and is subject to an automatic one year renewal without requiring the action of either party.
Residual Value Guarantees
We have various residual value guarantees on equipment leased under operating leases. The total amount of these residual value guarantees at December 31, 2007, was $9 million.
Other Guarantees
In addition to the guarantees discussed above, from time to time we enter into other guarantee arrangements, including guarantees of non-U.S. distributor financing and other miscellaneous guarantees of third-party obligations. The maximum potential loss related to these other guarantees is $4 million at December 31, 2007.
We have arrangements with certain suppliers that require us to purchase minimum volumes or be subject to monetary penalties. The penalty amounts are less than our purchase commitments and essentially allow the supplier to recover their tooling costs. At December 31, 2007, if we were to stop purchasing from each of these suppliers, the amount of the penalty would be approximately $19 million. However, based on current forecasts, we do not anticipate paying any penalties under these contracts.
Indemnifications
Periodically, we enter into various contractual arrangements where we agree to indemnify a third-party against certain types of losses. Common types of indemnifications 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 counter-party 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 indemnifications 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.
Joint Venture Commitments
As of December 31, 2007, we have committed to invest $35 million into existing joint ventures and joint ventures that will be formed in 2008. In addition, in January of 2008 we invested $20 million in two joint ventures which were not part of the $35 million commitment. It is expected that $9 million will be funded in 2008, while $26 million will be funded in 2009.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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