Commitments and Contingencies (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and contingencies primarily consist of guarantees and indemnifications, litigation and claims, and warranty and field service actions.

Guarantees and Indemnifications

Financial Guarantees. Financial guarantees and indemnifications are recorded at fair value at their inception. Subsequent to initial recognition, the guarantee liability is adjusted at each reporting period to reflect the current estimate of expected payments resulting from possible default events over the remaining life of the guarantee. The probability of default is applied to the expected exposure at the time of default less recoveries to determine the expected payments. Factors to consider when estimating the probability of default include the obligor’s financial position, forecasted economic environment, historical loss rates, and other communications. The liability recorded represents Ford’s exposure to credit risk. The maximum potential payments for financial guarantees were $162 million and $427 million at December 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020, respectively. The carrying value of recorded liabilities related to financial guarantees was $33 million and $49 million at December 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020, respectively.

Our financial guarantees consist of debt and lease obligations of certain joint ventures, as well as certain financial obligations of outside third parties, including suppliers, to support our business and economic growth. Expiration dates vary through 2033, and guarantees will terminate on payment and/or cancellation of the underlying obligation. A payment by us would be triggered by failure of the joint venture or other third party to fulfill its obligation covered by the guarantee. In some circumstances, we are entitled to recover from a third party amounts paid by us under the guarantee. However, our ability to enforce these rights is sometimes stayed until the guaranteed party is paid in full, and may be limited in the event of insolvency of the third party or other circumstances.

Non-Financial Guarantees. Non-financial guarantees and indemnifications are recorded at fair value at their inception. We regularly review our performance risk under these arrangements, and in the event it becomes probable we will be required to perform under a guarantee or indemnity, the amount of probable payment is recorded. The maximum potential payments for non-financial guarantees were $587 million and $678 million at December 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020, respectively. The carrying value of recorded liabilities related to non-financial guarantees was $200 million and $253 million at December 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020, respectively.

We guarantee the resale value of vehicles sold in certain arrangements to daily rental companies. The maximum potential payment of $673 million as of March 31, 2020 represents the total proceeds we guarantee the rental company will receive on re-sale. Reflecting our present estimate of proceeds the rental companies will receive on resale from third parties, we have recorded $252 million as our best estimate of the amount we will have to pay under the guarantee.

In the ordinary course of business, we execute contracts involving indemnifications standard in the industry and indemnifications specific to a transaction, such as the sale of a business. These indemnifications might include and are not limited to claims relating to any of the following: environmental, tax, and shareholder matters; intellectual property rights; power generation contracts; governmental regulations and employment-related matters; dealer, supplier, and other commercial contractual relationships; and financial matters, such as securitizations. Performance under these indemnities generally would be triggered by a breach of terms of the contract or by a third-party claim. While some of these indemnifications are limited in nature, many of them do not limit potential payment. Therefore, we are unable to estimate a maximum amount of future payments that could result from claims made under these unlimited indemnities.

NOTE 19. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Continued)

Litigation and Claims

Various legal actions, proceedings, and claims (generally, “matters”) are pending or may be instituted or asserted against us. These include, but are not limited to, matters arising out of alleged defects in our products; product warranties; governmental regulations relating to safety, emissions, and fuel economy or other matters; government incentives; tax matters; alleged illegal acts resulting in fines or penalties; financial services; employment-related matters; dealer, supplier, and other contractual relationships; intellectual property rights; environmental matters; shareholder or investor matters; and financial reporting matters. Certain of the pending legal actions are, or purport to be, class actions. Some of the matters involve or may involve claims for compensatory, punitive, or antitrust or other treble damages in very large amounts, or demands for field service actions, environmental remediation programs, sanctions, loss of government incentives, assessments, or other relief, which, if granted, would require very large expenditures.

The extent of our financial exposure to these matters is difficult to estimate. Many matters do not specify a dollar amount for damages, and many others specify only a jurisdictional minimum. To the extent an amount is asserted, our historical experience suggests that in most instances the amount asserted is not a reliable indicator of the ultimate outcome.

We accrue for matters when losses are deemed probable and reasonably estimable. In evaluating matters for accrual and disclosure purposes, we take into consideration factors such as our historical experience with matters of a similar nature, the specific facts and circumstances asserted, the likelihood that we will prevail, and the severity of any potential loss. We reevaluate and update our accruals as matters progress over time.

For the majority of matters, which generally arise out of alleged defects in our products, we establish an accrual based on our extensive historical experience with similar matters. We do not believe there is a reasonably possible outcome materially in excess of our accrual for these matters.

For the remaining matters, where our historical experience with similar matters is of more limited value (i.e., “non-pattern matters”), we evaluate the matters primarily based on the individual facts and circumstances. For non-pattern matters, we evaluate whether there is a reasonable possibility of a material loss in excess of any accrual that can be estimated. Our estimate of reasonably possible loss in excess of our accruals for all material matters currently reflects indirect tax and customs matters, for which we estimate the aggregate risk to be a range of up to about $400 million. In addition, we have a reasonably possible risk of loss for an emission certification matter. At this stage, we cannot estimate the risk of loss or predict the outcome, and cannot provide reasonable assurance that it will not have a material adverse effect on us.

As noted, the litigation process is subject to many uncertainties, and the outcome of individual matters is not predictable with assurance. Our assessments are based on our knowledge and experience, but the ultimate outcome of any matter could require payment substantially in excess of the amount that we have accrued and/or disclosed.

NOTE 19. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Continued)

Warranty and Field Service Actions

We accrue the estimated cost of both base warranty coverages and field service actions at the time of sale. We establish our estimate of base warranty obligations using a patterned estimation model, using historical information regarding the nature, frequency, and average cost of claims for each vehicle line by model year. We establish our estimates of field service action obligations using a patterned estimation model, using historical information regarding the nature, frequency, severity, and average cost of claims for each model year. In addition, from time to time, we issue extended warranties at our expense, the estimated cost of which is accrued at the time of issuance. Warranty and field service action obligations are reported in Other liabilities and deferred revenue. We reevaluate the adequacy of our accruals on a regular basis.

We recognize the benefit from a recovery of the costs associated with our warranty and field service actions when specifics of the recovery have been agreed with our supplier and the amount of recovery is virtually certain. Recoveries are reported in Trade and other receivables, net and Other assets.

The estimate of our future warranty and field service action costs, net of estimated supplier recoveries, for the periods ended March 31 was as follows (in millions):



	First Quarter
	2019			2020
Beginning balance	$	5,137		$	5,702
Payments made during the period	(1,074		)	(1,075		)
Changes in accrual related to warranties issued during the period	693			805
Changes in accrual related to pre-existing warranties	271			521
Foreign currency translation and other	7			(164		)
Ending balance	$	5,034		$	5,789

Changes to our estimated costs are reported as changes in accrual related to pre-existing warranties in the table above.