CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Revenues
Net sales and operating revenues	$ 1,778	$ 1,773	$ 5,610	$ 5,421
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	1,494	1,492	4,696	4,523
Goodwill impairment charge		11		11
Engineering, research, and development	28	32	94	102
Selling, general, and administrative	94	101	321	328
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	49	51	148	156
Costs and expenses	1,665	1,687	5,259	5,120
Other expense
Loss on sale of receivables	(1)	(1)	(3)	(4)
Other	(1)	(1)	(4)	(6)
Total other income (expense)	(2)	(2)	(7)	(10)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	111	84	344	291
Interest expense (net of interest capitalized of $1 million for both three months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and $3 million for both nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively)	21	27	84	81
Earnings before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	90	57	260	210
Income tax (benefit) expense	(42)	21	(3)	65
Net income	132	36	263	145
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	7	6	21	18
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ 125	$ 30	$ 242	$ 127
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding
Basic	59,766,097	59,793,866	59,983,310	59,866,717
Diluted	60,949,632	61,541,476	61,266,124	61,802,403
Basic earnings per share of common stock	$ 2.09	$ 0.51	$ 4.04	$ 2.12
Diluted earnings per share of common stock	$ 2.05	$ 0.49	$ 3.95	$ 2.06