Meritor, Inc. ("we", "us" or "our"), headquartered in Troy, Michigan, is a premier global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") and the aftermarket for the commercial vehicle, transportation and industrial sectors. We serve commercial truck, trailer, military, bus and coach, construction, and other industrial OEMs and certain aftermarkets. Our principal products are axles, drivelines, brakes, and suspension systems, drivelines and brakes.

Meritor serves a broad range of customers worldwide, including medium- and heavy-duty truck OEMs, specialty vehicle manufacturers, certain aftermarkets, and trailer producers. Our total sales from continuing operations in fiscal year 20192021 were approximately $4.4$4 billion. Our ten largest customers accounted for approximately 7775 percent of fiscal year 20192021 sales from continuing operations. Sales from operations outside North America accounted for approximately 3340 percent of total sales from continuing operations in fiscal year 2019.2021. Our continuing operations also participated in four unconsolidated joint ventures, which we accounted for under the equity method of accounting and that generated revenues of approximately $1.2$1 billion in fiscal year 2019.2021.

Our fiscal year ends on the Sunday nearest to September 30. Fiscal year 2021 ended on October 3, 2021, fiscal year 2020 ended on September 27, 2020, and fiscal year 2019 ended on September 29, 2019, fiscal year 2018 ended on September 30, 2018, and fiscal year 2017 ended on October 1, 2017.2019. All year and quarter references relate to our fiscal year and fiscal quarters unless otherwise stated. For ease of presentation, September 30 is utilized consistently throughout this report to represent the fiscal year end.

References in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to our belief that we are a leading supplier or the world's leading supplier, and other similar statements as to our relative market position are based principally on calculations we have made. These calculations are based on information we have collected, including company and industry sales data obtained from internal and available external sources as well as our estimates. In addition to such quantitative data, our statements are based on other competitive factors such as our technological capabilities, engineering, research and development efforts, innovative solutions and the quality of our products and services, in each case relative to that of our competitors in the markets we address.

Our reporting segments are as follows:

Other significant factors that could affect our results and liquidity include:

We are developing an electronic lube level monitoring device that eliminates the need for certain maintenance procedures saving time and money. For tire inflation, we are using sensors and related electronics that increase safety and improve efficiency via optimized tire pressure. And as manufacturers explore platooning, pairing and autonomous driving, knowing what is happening within the vehicle’s braking system is especially critical. The systems we are developing build upon our current pad wear sensor system and will monitor overall brake health, allowing strategic maintenance decisions as well as safer overall operation.

With the industry recognition we have worked hardalready received for this product, and our growing number of contracts and collaboration agreements, we are highly confident that Meritor’s electric powertrain represents game-changing technology for commercial vehicles. The new contracts shown below reflect the application flexibility we have designed into our electric powertrain portfolio and the growing demand for Meritor’s solution.

With market adoption growing for our 14Xe™, we are designing reliable and high quality productsdeveloping the 17Xe™ electric powertrain in Europe. This year, we were a grant recipient from the Advanced Propulsion Centre in the United Kingdom. This grant will partially fund the development of Meritor’s 17Xe™. After a months-long nomination and consideration process, we were selected – along with our consortium partners Danfoss Editron and Electra Commercial Vehicles. The grant, totaling almost 16 million pounds sterling, will rapidly accelerate development of this product that meet or exceed their unique expectationsis designed for multiple vehicle platforms and extends our ability to offer Meritor’s ePowertrain solution for European vehicles. We believe demand for this product will grow because of EU 2025 CO2 reduction targets. Stricter targets will start applying in 2030, and by 2040 all new trucks sold in Europe will need to be fossil free to reach carbon-neutrality by 2050.

We achieved major milestones in fiscal year 2021 related to next-generation technologies engineered to fit multiple vehicle applications for customers’ needs now and in the future. Through new business awards with global manufacturers and evolution of our Blue Horizon™ powertrain solutions, we are establishing Meritor as a leader in transformative technologies for the commercial vehicle industry.

In addition to technology and product collaboration, we also meet regularly with our customers to review our performance in a number of other areas including quality, delivery and cost.

In our M2019M2022 plan, we set an overall quality target of 25less than 20 parts per million ("PPM"). In fiscal year 2019,2021, Meritor achieved a quality score of 108 parts per million. This score was driven by certain issues experienced at one facility in North America for a specific customer that was ultimately resolved. If23 PPM. Also this incident was isolated, Meritor's quality score globally would have been 24, just below our M2019 target, despite the 17 percent increase in Class 8 truck production in fiscal year, 2019.four of our facilities and three of our joint ventures received the Daimler Master of Quality Award. In 2020, during an unprecedented year of supply constraints and severe workforce challenges, six of our facilities received the PACCAR 10 PPM award. We believe this level of quality further differentiates us in the commercial vehicle industry. Also this

In fiscal year four of Meritor’s facilities received the PACCAR 10 PPM Quality Award given to suppliers who meet or exceed its rigorous standard of 10 or fewer defective parts for every 1 million parts shipped to this customer; two facilities received the Daimler Masters of Quality Award, and one facility earned a Silver Performance recognition from Motor Coach Industries.

We will maintain our focus on driving down operating costs through material cost-reduction and labor and burden improvements with a target achievement of 1.52 percent improvement per year that we achieved throughout fiscal year 2019.year. We are continuing to drive material performance with three different approaches: commercial negotiations, best-cost-country sourcing and technical innovation. And, we are improving in labor and burden by addressing several areas simultaneously, including better equipment utilization, reduced changeover time, elimination of waste, improved shift and asset utilization, investing in equipment to improve cycle time and flexibility and employee involvement.

We believe we effectively manage complexity for low volumes and support our customers’ needs during periods of peak volumes. The quality, durability and on-time delivery of our products has earned us strong positions in the markets we support. As we seek to extend and expand our business with existing customers and establish relationships with new ones, our objective is to ensure we are getting a fair value for the recognized benefits of our products and services and the strong brand equity we hold in the marketplace.

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been significant. Since the pandemic began, we took every action possible to a Growth-Oriented Organization

We developed a Safe Start plan to protect our employees. It outlined specific policies that were audited at each of our sites including preventative measures in California. The electric trucks are operating at the Port of San Diego.

Every day, the company’s portfolio.

We believe that our strength to compete in the global market is dependent upon the engagement of every Meritor employee and that a high-performing team is critical to the level of performance we want to achieve. We have a strong and experienced leadership group and a committed team, both of which are focused on sustaining the strong foundation we built under the M2016

We have established various development and training programs to help our employees grow as we grow. This year, we continued the leadership development programs for managers, directors and senior leaders around the world. For managers, we offeredoffer Management Essentials & Leadership Fundamentals cohort development programs and eLearning modules and courses that address important areas for advancement including accountability, delegation, and providing and receiving feedback.

For director-level employees, we offer a leadership development program through our eLearning platform that includes leadership learning modules, live instructor-led leader camps and live key-note speaker events, that align with our Meritor Code Leadership Model. For certain director-level employees, we led our third annualoffer Leadership Edge - a 10-month program whose objective is to develop advanced leadership skills, prepare high-potential leaders for senior level positions and strengthen business acumen.

And for certain senior-level leaders, we continuedoffer the Summit leadership development program, which provides executive coaching, the opportunity to attend specific executive training sessions tailored to each individual’s background and career goals, participation in a MBA-level finance course, if needed, and engagement in mentorship opportunities with a member of Meritor’s Board of Directors. To ensure we provide a rich experience for our employees, we will continue to measure employee engagement to build on the competencies that are important to our future.

To enhance our commitment to inclusiveness, we have partnered with the Center of New M2022 Plan

Meritor designs, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, sells, services and supports a broad range of products for use in the transportation and industrial sectors. In addition to sales of original equipment systems and components, we provide our original equipment, aftermarket and remanufactured products to vehicle OEMs, their dealers (who in turn sell to motor carriers and commercial vehicle users of all sizes), independent distributors, and other end-users in certain aftermarkets.

The following chart sets forth, for each of the fiscal years 2019, 20182021, 2020 and 2017,2019, information about product sales comprising more than 10% of consolidated revenue in any of those years. A narrative description of our principal products follows the chart.

We believe we are one of the world's leading independent suppliers of axles for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, with the leading market position in axle manufacturing in North America, South America and Europe, and are one of the major axle manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region. Our extensive truck axle product line includes a wide range of front steer axles and rear drive axles. Our front steer and rear drive axles can be equipped with our cam, wedge or air disc brakes, automatic slack adjusters, and complete wheel-end equipment such as hubs, rotors and drums.

We supply heavy-duty axles in certain global regions for use in numerous off-highway vehicle applications, including construction, material handling, and mining. We also supply axles for use in military tactical wheeled vehicles, principally in North America and Europe. These products are designed to tolerate high tonnage and operate under extreme conditions. We also supply axles for use in buses, coaches and recreational vehicles, fire trucks and other specialty vehicles in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe, and we believe we are a leading supplier of bus and coach axles in North America.

 

We are one of the major manufacturers of heavy-duty trailer axles in North America. Our trailer axles are available in more than 40 models in capacities from 20,000 to 30,000 pounds for virtually all heavy trailer applications and are available with our broad range of suspension modules and brake products, including drum brakes and disc brakes.

 

We supply universal joints and driveline components, including our Permalube™ universal joint and RPL Permalube™ driveline, which are maintenance free, permanently lubricated designs used often in the high mileage on-highway market. We supply drivelines in North America for use in numerous on-highway vehicle applications. We also supply transfer cases for use in specialty vehicles in North America, Turkey and Europe. In addition, we supply trailer air suspension systems and products with an increasing market presence in North America. We supply transfer cases and drivelines for use in military tactical wheeled vehicles, principally in North America and Europe. In addition, we also supply advanced suspension modules for use in light-, medium- and heavy-duty military tactical wheeled vehicles, principally in North America, Turkey and Europe.

We believe we are one of the leading independent suppliers of air brakes to medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicle manufacturers in North America and Europe. In Brazil, we believe that Master Sistemas Automotivos Limitada, our 49%-owned joint venture with Randon S. A. Implementos e Participações, is a leading supplier of brakes and brake-related products.

Through manufacturing facilities located in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe, we manufacture a broad range of foundation air brakes, as well as automatic slack adjusters for brake systems. Our foundation air brake products include cam drum brakes, which offer improved lining life and tractor/trailer interchangeability; wedge drum brakes, which are lightweight and provide automatic internal wear adjustment; air disc brakes, which provide enhanced stopping distance and improved fade resistance for demanding applications; and wheel-end components such as hubs, drums and rotors.

 

Our brakes and brake system components are used in military tactical wheeled vehicles, principally in North America, Turkey and Europe. We supply brakes for use in buses, coaches and recreational vehicles, fire trucks and other specialty vehicles in North America and Europe, and we believe we are the leading supplier of bus and coach brakes in North America. We also supply brakes for commercial vehicles, buses and coaches in Asia Pacific and air and hydraulic brakes for off-highway vehicles in North America and Europe.

In addition to the products discussed above, we sell other complementary products, including third-party and private label items, through our aftermarket distribution channels. These products are generally sold under master distribution or similar agreements with outside vendors and include brake shoes and friction materials; automatic slack adjusters; yokes and shafts; wheel-end hubs and drums; ABS and stability control systems; shock absorbers and air springs; and air brakes.

We have numerous customers worldwide and have developed long-standing business relationships with many of these customers. Our ten largest customers accounted for approximately 7775 percent of our total sales in fiscal year 2019.2021. Sales to customers that accounted for 10 percent or more of our total sales in fiscal year 20192021 included AB Volvo, Daimler AG PACCAR and Navistar,PACCAR, representing approximately 2224 percent, 19 percent, 1316 percent and 1013 percent, respectively. No other customer accounted for 10 percent or more of our total sales in fiscal year 2019.

In North America, we design, engineer, market and sell products principally to OEMs, dealers and distributors. While our North American sales are typically direct to OEMs, our ultimate commercial truck customers include trucking and transportation fleets. Fleet customers may specify our components and integrated systems for installation in the vehicles they purchase from OEMs. We employ what we refer to as a "push-pull" marketing strategy. We "push" for being the standard product at the OEM. At the same time, our district field managers then call on fleets and OEM dealers to "pull-through" our components on specific truck purchases. For all other markets, we specifically design, engineer, market and sell products principally to OEMs for their market-specific needs or product specifications.

 

For certain large OEM customers, our supply arrangements are negotiated on a long-term contract basis for a multi-year period that may require us to provide annual cost reductions through price reductions or other cost benefits for the OEMs. If we are unable to generate sufficient cost savings in the future to offset such price reductions, our gross margins will be adversely affected. Sales to other OEMs are typically made through open order releases or purchase orders at market-based prices that do not require the purchase of a minimum number of products. The customer typically has the right to cancel or delay these orders on reasonable notice. We typically compete to either retain business or try to win new business from OEMs when long-term contracts expire.

 

We have established leading positions in many of the markets we serve as a global supplier of a broad range of drivetrain systems, brakes and components. Based on available industry data and internal company estimates, our market-leading positions include independent truck drive axles (i.e., those manufactured by an independent, non-captive supplier) in North America, Europe, South America and India through a joint venture; truck drivelines in North America; truck air brakes in North

 

Our global customer portfolio includes AB Volvo, Daimler AG, PACCAR, Navistar International Corporation, Oshkosh, Traton Group, CNH Industrial, Ashok Leyland, XCMG, Wabash National, and Gillig.

We market and sell truck, trailer, off-highway and other products principally to, and service such products principally for, OEMs, their parts marketing operations, their dealers and other independent distributors and service garages within the aftermarket industry. Our product sales are generated through long-term agreements with certain of our OEM customers and distribution agreements and sales to independent dealers and distributors. Sales to other OEMs are typically made through open order releases or purchase orders at market-based prices, which do not require the purchase of a minimum number of products. The customer typically has the right to cancel or delay these orders on reasonable notice.

 

Our product offerings allow us to service all stages of our customers’ vehicle ownership lifecycle. In North America, we stock and distribute thousands of parts from top national brands to our customers or what we refer to as our "all makes" strategy. Our district field managers call on our OEM's, OEM dealers, fleet customers and independent customers to market our full product line capabilities on a regular basis to seek to ensure that we satisfy our customers’ needs. Our aftermarket business sells products under the following brand names: Meritor, Euclid, Trucktechnic, US Gear, AxleTech and Mach.

 

Based on available industry data and internal company estimates, we believe our North America aftermarket business has the overall market leadership position for the portfolio of products that we offer. 

We compete worldwide with a number of North American and international providers of components and systems, some of which are owned by or associated with some of our customers. The principal competitive factors are price, quality, service, product performance, design and engineering capabilities, new product innovation and timely delivery. Certain OEMs manufacture their own components that compete with the types of products we supply.

 

Our major competitors for axles are Dana Incorporated and, in certain markets, OEMs that manufacture axles for use in their own products. Emerging competitors for axles include DTNA’s Detroit Axle, Allison, ZF Friedrichshafen in Europe, and Hande, Fuwa and Ankai in China. Our major competitors for brakes are Bendix/Knorr Bremse, ZF and, in certain markets, OEMs that manufacture brakes for use in their own products. Our major competitors for industrial applications are MAN, Oshkosh, AM General, Marmon-Herrington, Dana Incorporated, Knorr Bremse, Kessler & Co., Carraro, NAF, Sisu and, in certain markets, OEMs that manufacture industrial products for use in their own vehicles. Our major competitors for trailer applications are Fuwa, Hendrickson and SAF-Holland.

Our purchases of raw materials and parts are concentrated over a limited number of suppliers. We are dependent upon our suppliers'suppliers’ ability to meet cost performance targets, quality specifications and delivery schedules. The inability of a supplier to meet these requirements, the loss of a significant supplier, or work stoppages could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet our customers'customers’ delivery requirements.

The cost of our core products is susceptible to changes in overall steel commodity prices, including ingredients used for various grades of steel. We have generally structured our major steel supplier and customer contracts to absorb and pass on normal index-related market fluctuations in steel prices. While we have had steel pricing adjustment programs in place with most major OEMs, the price adjustment programs tend to lag behind the movement in steel costs and have generally not contemplated non-steel index related increases.

Significant future volatility in the commodity markets or a deterioration in product demand may require us to pursue customer price increases through surcharges or other pricing arrangements. In addition, if suppliers are inadequate for our needs, or if prices remain at current levels or increase and we are unable to either pass these prices to our customer base or otherwise mitigate the costs, our operating results could be further adversely affected.

We continuously work to address these competitive challenges by reducing costs and, as needed, restructuring operations. We manage supplier risk by conducting periodic assessments for all major suppliers and more frequent rigorous assessments of

As described above, our business strategies are focused on enhancing our market position by continuously evaluating the competitive differentiation of our product portfolio, focusing on our strengths and core competencies, and growing the businesses that offer the most attractive returns. Implementing these strategies involves various types of strategic initiatives.

As the industries in which we operate have become more globalized, joint ventures and other cooperative arrangements have become an important element of our business strategies. These strategic alliances provide for sales, product design, development and manufacturing in certain product and geographic areas. As of September 30, 2019,2021, our continuing operations participated in the following non-consolidated joint ventures:

Aggregate sales of our non-consolidated joint ventures were $1,231$1,011 million, $1,101$696 million and $1,156$1,231 million in fiscal years 2019, 20182021, 2020 and 2017,2019, respectively.

We have significant research, development, engineering and product design capabilities. We spent $76 million in fiscal year 2021, $74 million in fiscal year 2020 and $75 million in fiscal year 2019 $73 million in fiscal year 2018 and $69 million in fiscal year 2017 on company-sponsored research, development and engineering. We employ professional engineers and scientists globally and have additional engineering capabilities through contract arrangements in low-cost countries. We also have advanced technical centers in North America, South America, Europe and India.

We own or license many United States and foreign patents and patent applications in our engineering and manufacturing operations and other activities. While in the aggregate these patents and licenses are considered important to the operation of our businesses, management does not believe that the loss or termination of any one of them would materially affect a business segment or Meritor as a whole.

Our registered trademarks for Meritor® and the Bull design are important to our business. Other significant trademarks owned by us include Euclid® and Trucktechnic® for aftermarket products.

The process of estimating environmental liabilities is complex and dependent on physical and scientific data at the site, uncertainties as to remedies and technologies to be used, and the outcome of discussions with regulatory agencies. The actual amount of costs or damages for which we may be held responsible could materially exceed our current estimates because of uncertainties, including the financial condition of other potentially responsible parties, the success of the remediation and other factors that make it difficult to predict actual costs accurately. However, based on management's assessment, after consulting with Meritor's Interim Chief Legal Officer and with outside advisors who specialize in environmental matters, and subject to the difficulties inherent in estimating these future costs, we believe that our expenditures for environmental capital investment and remediation necessary to comply with present regulations governing environmental protection and other expenditures for the resolution of environmental claims will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, in future periods, new laws and regulations, changes in remediation plans, advances in technology and additional information about the ultimate clean-up remedy could significantly change our estimates. Management cannot assess the possible effectimpact of compliance with future requirements.

We may experience seasonal variations in the demand for our products, to the extent OEM vehicle production fluctuates. Historically, for most of our operations, demand has been somewhat lower in the quarters ended September 30 and December 31, when OEM plants may close for summer shutdowns and holiday periods or when there are fewer selling days during the quarter. Our aftermarket business and our operations in India generally experience seasonally higher demand in the quarter ending March 31.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, all amendments to those reports, and other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") are available free of charge on our website (www.Meritor.com), as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed. The information contained on theour company’s website is not included in, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains statements relating to future results of the company (including certain outlooks, projections and business trends) that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "should," "are likely to be," "will" and similar expressions. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on public health, the global economy, and financial markets, as well as our industry, customers, operations, workforce, supply chains, distribution systems and demand for our products; reliance on major OEM customers and possible negative outcomes from contract negotiations with our major customers, including failure to negotiate acceptable terms in contract renewal negotiations and our ability to obtain new customers; the outcome of actual and potential product liability, warranty and recall claims; our ability to successfully manage rapidly changing volumes in the commercial truck markets and work with our customers to manage demand expectations in view of rapid changes in production levels; global economic and market cycles and conditions; availability and sharply rising costs of raw materials, including steel, transportation and labor, and our ability to manage or recover such costs; technological changes in our industry as a result of the trends toward electrified drivetrains and the integration of advanced electronics and their impact on the demand for our products and services; our ability to manage possible adverse effects on European markets or our European operations, or financing arrangements related thereto following the United Kingdom's decision to exit the European Union or, in the event one or more other countries exit the European monetary union; risks inherent in operating abroad (including foreign currency exchange rates, restrictive government actions regarding trade, implications of foreign regulations relating to pensions and potential disruption of production and supply due to terrorist attacks or acts of aggression); risks related to our joint ventures; rising costs of pension benefits; the ability to achieve the expected benefits of strategic initiatives and restructuring actions; our ability to successfully integrate the products and technologies of Fabco Holdings, Inc., AA Gear Mfg.,AxleTech and Transportation Power, Inc. and AxleTech and future results of such acquisitions, including their generation of revenue and their being accretive; the demand for commercial and specialty vehicles for which we supply products; whether our liquidity will be affected by declining vehicle production in the future; OEM program delays; demand for and market acceptance of new and existing products; successful development and launch of new products; labor relations of our company, our suppliers and customers, including potential disruptions in supply of parts to our facilities or demand for our products due to work stoppages; the financial condition of our suppliers and customers, including potential bankruptcies; possible adverse effects of any future suspension of normal trade credit terms by our suppliers; potential impairment of long-lived assets, including goodwill; potential adjustment of the value of deferred tax assets; competitive product and pricing pressures; the amount of our debt; our ability to continue to comply with covenants in our financing agreements; our ability to access capital markets; credit ratings of our debt; the outcome of existing and any future legal proceedings, including any proceedings or related liabilities with respect to environmental, asbestos-related, or other matters; rising costs of pension benefits; possible changes in accounting rules; and other substantial costs, risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed herein and from time to time in other filings of the company with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update

Our business, financial condition and results of operations can be impacted by a number of risks, including those described below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, any one of which could cause our actual results to vary materially from recent results or from anticipated future results. Any of these individual risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. This effect could be compounded if multiple risks were to occur.

We are dependent upon large OEM customers with substantial bargaining power with respect to price and other commercial terms. In addition, we have long-term contracts with certain of these customers that are subject to renegotiation and renewal from time to time. Loss of all or a substantial portion of sales to any of our large volume customers for whatever reason (including, but not limited to, loss of contracts or failure to negotiate acceptable terms in contract renewal negotiations, loss of market share by these customers, insolvency of such customers, reduced or delayed customer requirements, plant shutdowns, strikes or other work stoppages affecting production by such customers), continued reduction of prices to these customers, or a

The levelamount of our sales to large OEM customers, including the realization of future sales from awarded business or obtaining new business or customers, is inherently subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the number of vehicles that these OEM customers actually produce and sell. Several of our significant customers have major union contracts that expire periodically and are subject to renegotiation. Any strikes or other actions that affect our customers' production during this process would also affect our sales. Further, to the extent that the financial condition, including bankruptcy or market share, of any of our largest customers deteriorates or their sales otherwise continue to decline, our financial position and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, our customers generally have the right to replace us with another supplier under certain circumstances. Accordingly, we may not in fact realize all of the future sales represented by our awarded business. Any failure to realize these sales could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Production and sales in the commercial vehicle market have historically been volatile. Our business may experience difficulty in adapting to rapidly changing production and sales volumes. In an upturn of the cycle, when demand increases for production, we may have difficulty in meeting such extreme or rapidly increasing demand. This difficulty may include not having sufficient manpower or working capital to meet the needs of our customers or relying on other suppliers who may not be able to respond quickly to a changed environment when demand increases rapidly. In addition, certain volume requirements can necessitate premium freight and the associated costs to support the customer demand. In contrast, in the downturn of the cycle, we may have difficulty sustaining profitability given fixed costs (as further discussed below).

Our levels of fixed costs can make it difficult to adjust our cost base to the extent necessary, or to make such adjustments on a timely basis, and continued volume declines can result in non-cash impairment charges as the value of certain long-lived assets is reduced. As a result, our financial condition and results of operations have been and would be expected to continue to be adversely affected during periods of prolonged declining production and sales volumes in the commercial vehicle markets.

The negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations from continued volume declines could also have negative effects on our liquidity. If cash flows are not available from our operations, we may be required to rely on the banking and credit markets to meet our financial commitments and short-term liquidity needs; however, we cannot predict whether that funding will be available at all or on commercially reasonable terms. In addition, in the event of reduced sales, levels of receivables would decline, which would lead to a decline in funding available under our U.S. receivables facilities or under our European factoring arrangements.

Our working capital requirements can vary significantly, depending in part on the level, variability and timing of our customers' worldwide vehicle production and the payment terms with our customers and suppliers. As production volumes

In addition, since many of our accounts receivable factoring programs support our working capital requirements in Europe, any dissolution of the European monetary union, if it were to occur, or any other termination of our European factoring agreements could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity if we were unable to renegotiate such agreements or find alternative sources of liquidity.

One of our consolidated joint ventures in China participates in bills of exchange programs to settle accounts receivable from its customers and obligations to its trade suppliers. These programs are common in China and generally require the participation of local banks. Any disruption in these programs, if it were to occur, could have an adverse effect on our liquidity if we were unable to find alternative sources of liquidity.

The industries in which we operate have been characterized historically by significant periodic fluctuations in overall demand for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and other vehicles for which we supply products, resulting in corresponding fluctuations in demand for our products. The length and timing of any cycle in the vehicle industry cannot be predicted with certainty.

Production and sales of the vehicles for which we supply products generally depend on economic conditions and a variety of other factors that are outside our control, including freight tonnage, customer spending and preferences, vehicle age, labor relations and regulatory requirements. In particular, demand for our Commercial Truck segment products can be affected by a pre-buy before the effective date of new regulatory requirements, such as changes in emissions standards. Historically, implementation of new, more stringent, emissions standards has increased heavy-duty truck demand prior to the effective date of the new regulations,standards, and correspondingly decreased this demand after the new standards are implemented. In addition, any expected increase in the heavy-duty truck demand prior to the effective date of new emissions standards may be offset by instability in the financial markets and resulting economic contraction in the U.S. and worldwide markets.

Sales from the aftermarket portion of our Aftermarket Industrial and TrailerIndustrial segment depend on overall levels of truck ton miles and gross domestic product (GDP), among other things, and may be influenced by times of slower economic growth or economic contraction based on the average age of commercial truck fleets.

We may also experience seasonal variations in the demand for our products to the extent that vehicle production fluctuates. Historically, for most of our business, demand has been somewhat lower in the quarters ended September 30 and December 31, when OEM plants may close during model changeovers and vacation and holiday periods or when there are fewer selling days during the quarter. In addition, our aftermarket business and our operations in India generally experience seasonally higher demand in the quarter ending March 31.

Prices of raw materials, primarily steel, for our manufacturing needs and costs of labor and transportation have fluctuatedrisen sharply inover the past years, including rapid increases which had a negative impact on our operating income for certain periods.year. These steel price increases, along with increasing labor and transportation costs, createdare creating pressure on profit margins, and as they recur in the future, they couldare expected to continue unfavorably impactimpacting our financial results going forward. While we have had steel pricing adjustment programs in place with most major OEMs, the price adjustment programs typically lag the increase in steel costs and have generally not contemplated all non-index-related increases in steel costs. Raw material price fluctuation, together with the volatility of the commodity markets, which can be impacted by a variety of factors, including changes in trade laws and tariffs, will continue to pose risks to our financial results. We are also experiencing ongoing labor shortages in the certain geographies and increased competition for qualified candidates. These shortages could adversely affect our ability to meet customer demand and are increasing labor costs, which reduce our profitability. If we are unable to pass price increases on to our customer base or otherwise mitigate the costs, our operating income could be adversely affected.

To a certain extent, pricing pressure by OEMs is a characteristic of the commercial vehicle industry. Virtually all OEMs have price reduction initiatives and objectives each year with their suppliers, and such actions are expected to continue in the future. Accordingly, we must be able to reduce our operating costs in order to maintain our current margins. Price reductions have impacted our margins and may do so in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to avoid future customer price reductions or offset future customer price reductions through improved operating efficiencies, new manufacturing processes, sourcing alternatives or other cost reduction initiatives.

Each of Meritor's businesses operates in a highly competitive environment. We compete worldwide with a number of North American and international providers of components and systems, some of which are owned by or associated with some of our customers. Certain OEMs manufacture products for their own use that compete with the types of products we supply, and any future increase in this activity could displace Meritor's sales. In addition, cost reduction strategies in our industry have led to an increase in the consolidation and globalization of OEMs and their suppliers, which could increase the amount of competition or displacement we face from OEMs that manufacture products similar to ours for their own use or from suppliers that are affiliated with or otherwise supported by OEMs.

The commercial vehicle market is also experiencing a period of significant technological change as a result of the trends toward electrified drivetrains and the integration of advanced electronics into traditional products. These trends have led to an increase in the significance of technology to our current and future products and the amount of capital we need to invest to develop these new technologies, as well as an increase in the amount of competition we face from technology focused new market entrants. We are investing in the development of new products and technologies, but the future market acceptance and investment returns for these products are uncertain. If we misjudge the amount of capital to invest or are otherwise unable to continue providing products that meet our customers’ needs in this environment of rapid technological change, our market competitiveness could be adversely affected.affected as demand for our current products and services is reduced.

Some of our significant suppliers have experienced weak financial conditionconditions in the past. In addition, some of our significant suppliers are located in developing countries. We are dependent upon the ability of our suppliers to meet performance and quality specifications and delivery schedules. The inability of a supplier to meet these requirements, the loss of a significant supplier, or any labor issues or work stoppages at a significant supplier could disrupt the supply of raw materials and parts to our facilities and could have an adverse effect on us.

A work stoppage at one or more of our manufacturing facilities could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, if a significant customer were to experience a work stoppage, that customer could halt or limit purchases of our products, which could result in shutting down the related manufacturing facilities. Also, a significant disruption in the supply of a key component due to a work stoppage at one of our suppliers could result in shutting down manufacturing facilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We have a significant number of facilities and operations outside the United States, including investments and joint ventures in developing countries. During fiscal year 2019,2021, approximately 4046 percent of our sales from continuing operations were generated outside of the United States. Our strategy to grow in emerging markets may put us at risk due to the risks inherent in operating in such markets. Our international operations are subject to a number of risks inherent in operating abroad, including, but not limited to:

There can be no assurance that these risks will not have a material adverse impact on our ability to increase or maintain our foreign sales or on our financial condition or results of operations.

We conduct certain of our operations through joint ventures, many of which act as our suppliers, pursuant to the terms of the agreements that we entered into with our partners. We may share management responsibilities and information with one or more partners that may not share our goals and objectives. Additionally, one or more partners may fail to satisfy contractual obligations, conflicts may arise between us and any of our partners, the ownership of one of our partners may change or our ability to control decision making or compliance with applicable rules and regulations may be limited. Additionally, our ability to sell our interest in a joint venture may be subject to contractual and other limitations. Accordingly, any of the foregoing could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

The success and timing of any future divestitures and acquisitions will depend on a variety of factors, many of which are not within our control. If we engage in acquisitions, we may finance these transactions by borrowing or issuing additional debt or equity securities. The additional debt from any such acquisitions, if consummated, could increase our debt to capitalization ratio. In addition, the ultimate benefit of any acquisition would depend on our ability to successfully integrate the acquired entity or assets into our existing business and to achieve any projected synergies. There is also no assurance that the total costs associated with any current andor future restructuring will not exceed our estimates, or that we will be able to achieve the intended benefits of these restructurings.

Our current senior secured revolving credit facility matures in June 2024. Upon expiration of this facility, we will require a new or renegotiated facility (which may be smaller and have less favorable terms than our current facility) or other financing arrangements. Our ability to access additional capital in the long term will depend on availability of capital markets and pricing on commercially reasonable terms, as well as our credit profile at the time we are seeking funds, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to access additional capital.

On November 11, 2019,15, 2021, our Standard & Poor’s corporate credit rating and senior unsecured credit rating were BB and BB-, respectively, and our Moody’s Investors Service corporate credit rating and senior unsecured credit rating were Ba3 and B1, respectively. Any lowering of our credit ratings could increase our cost of future borrowings, and could reduce our access to capital markets and result in lower trading prices for our securities.

Our liquidity could also be adversely impacted if our suppliers were to suspend normal trade credit terms and require more accelerated payment terms, including payment in advance or payment on delivery of purchases. If this were to occur, we would be dependent on other sources of financing to bridge the additional period between payment of our suppliers and receipt of payments from our customers.

Disruptions in the financial markets, including the bankruptcy, insolvency or restructuring of certain financial institutions, and the lack of liquidity generally could impact the availability and cost of incremental credit for many companies and may adversely affect the availability of credit already arranged. Such disruptions could adversely affect the U.S. and world economy, further negatively impacting consumer spending patterns in the transportation and industrial sectors. In addition, as our customers and suppliers respond to rapidly changing consumer preferences, they may require access to additional capital. If that capital is not available or its cost is prohibitively high, their businessbusinesses would be negatively impacted, which could result in further restructuring, insolvency or even reorganization under bankruptcy laws. Any such negative impact, in turn, could negatively affect our business either through loss of sales to any of our customers so affected or through inability to meet our commitments (or inability to meet them without excess expense) because of loss of supplies from any of our suppliers so affected. There are no assurances that government responses to these disruptions would restore consumer confidence or improve the liquidity of the financial markets.

In addition, disruptions in the capital and credit markets could adversely affect our ability to draw on our senior secured revolving credit facility or our U.S. accounts receivable securitization facility. Our access to funds under the facilities is dependent on the ability of the banks that are parties to the facilities to meet their funding commitments. Those banks may not be able to meet their funding commitments to us if they experience shortages of capital and liquidity or if they experience excessive volumes of borrowing requests from Meritor and other borrowers within a short period of time. Longer-term disruptions in the capital and credit markets as a result of uncertainty, changing or increased regulation, reduced alternatives, or failures of significant financial institutions could adversely affect our access to liquidity needed for our business. Any disruption could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business needs can be arranged.

Our ability to borrow under our existing financing arrangements depends on our compliance with covenants in the related agreements, and on our performance againstincluding covenants in our banksenior secured revolving credit facility that require compliance with certain financial ratios as of the end of each fiscal quarter. To the extent that we are unable to maintain compliance with these requirements or to perform against the financial ratio covenants due to one or more of the various risk factors discussed herein or otherwise, our ability to borrow, and our liquidity, would be adversely impacted.

 If an amendment or waiver is needed (in the event we do not meetcomply with one of these covenants) and not obtained, we would be in violation of that covenant, and the lenders would have the right to accelerate the obligations upon the vote of the lenders holding more than 50% of outstanding loans thereunder. A default under the senior secured revolving credit facility could also constitute a default under our outstanding convertible notes, as well as our U.S. receivables facility, and could result in the acceleration of these obligations. In addition, a default under our senior secured revolving credit facility could result in a cross-default or the acceleration of our payment obligations under other financing agreements. If our obligations under our senior secured revolving credit facility and other financing arrangements are accelerated as described above, our assets and cash flow may be insufficient to fully repay these obligations, and the lenders under our senior secured revolving credit facility could institute foreclosure proceedings against our assets.

As a result of LIBORour substantial international operations, we are exposed to foreign currency risks that arise from our normal business operations, including risks in connection with a different reference rate, may have an adverse effect on our business.

Our business is subject to liabilities with respect to environmental, health and safety matters. In addition, we are required to comply with federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations governing the protection of the environment and health and safety, and we could be held liable for damages arising out of human exposure to hazardous substances or other environmental or natural resource damages. Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and tend to be increasingly stringent. As a result, our future costs to comply with such laws and regulations may increase significantly. There is also an inherent risk of exposure to warranty and product liability claims, as well as product recalls, in the commercial vehicle industry if our products fail to perform to specifications or are alleged to cause property damage, injury or death.

With respect to environmental liabilities, we have been designated as a potentially responsible party at ten Superfund sites (excluding sites as to which our records disclose no involvement or as to which our liability has been finally determined). In addition to the Superfund sites, various other lawsuits, claims and proceedings have been asserted against us alleging violations of U.S. and foreign federal, state and local and foreign environmental protection requirements or seeking remediation of alleged environmental impairments. We establish reserves for these liabilities when we determine that the company has a probable obligation and we can reasonably estimate it, but the process of estimating environmental liabilities is complex and dependent on evolving physical and scientific data at the site, uncertainties as to remedies and technologies to be used, and the outcome of discussions with regulatory agencies. The actual amount of costs or damages for which we may be held responsible could materially exceed our current estimates because of these and other uncertainties which make it difficult to predict actual costs

We have a significant amount of long-lived assets and goodwill on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. Under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, long-lived assets, excluding goodwill, are required to be reviewed for impairment whenever adverse events or changes in circumstances indicate a possible impairment. If business conditions or other factors cause our operating results and cash flows to decline, we may be required to record non-cash impairment charges. Goodwill must be evaluated for impairment at least annually. If the carrying value of our reporting units exceeds their current fair value, the goodwill is considered impaired and is reduced to fair value via a non-cash charge to earnings. Events and conditions that could result in

In accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 740 "Income Taxes," each quarter we determine the probability of the realization of deferred tax assets using significant judgments and estimates with respect to, among other things, historical operating results, expectations of future earnings and tax planning strategies. If we determine in the future that there is not sufficient positive evidence to support the valuation of these assets, due to the risk factors described herein or other factors, we may be required to adjust the valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets. Such a reduction could result in material non-cash expenses in the period in which the valuation allowance is adjusted and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, future changes in laws or regulations could have a material impact on the company's overall tax position.

 

Our overall effective tax rate is equal to our total tax expense as a percentage of our total earnings before tax. However, tax expenses and benefits are determined separately for each tax paying component (an individual entity) or group of entities that is consolidated for tax purposes in each jurisdiction. Losses in certain jurisdictions that have valuation allowances against their deferred tax assets provide no current financial statement tax benefit unless required under the intra-period allocation requirements of FASB ASC Topic 740.740, "Income Taxes" ("ASC Topic 740"). As a result, changes in the mix of projected earnings between jurisdictions, among other factors, could have a significant impact on our overall effective tax rate.

FASB ASC Topic 740 "Income Taxes," defines the confidence level that a tax position must meet in order to be recognized in the financial statements. This topic requires that the tax effects of a position be recognized only if it is "more-likely-than-not" to be sustained based solely on its technical merits as of the reporting date. The more-likely-than-not threshold represents a positive assertion by management that a company is entitled to the economic benefits of a tax position. If a tax position is not considered more likely than not to be sustained based solely on its technical merits, no benefits of the position are to be recognized. Moreover, the more-likely-than-not threshold must continue to be met in each reporting period to support continued recognition of a benefit. In the event that the more-likely-than-not threshold is not met, we would be required to change the relevant tax position, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

SectionSections 382 and 383 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, limitslimit the ability of a corporation that undergoes an "ownership change" to use its tax attributes, such as net operating losses and tax credits. In general, an "ownership change" occurs if shareholders owning five percent or more (applying certain look-through rules) of an issuer's outstanding common stock, collectively, increase their ownership percentage by more than fifty percentage points within any three-year period over such shareholders' lowest percentage ownership during this period. If we were to issue new shares of stock, such new shares could contribute to such an "ownership change" under U.S. tax law. Moreover, not every event that could contribute

Our industry is characterized by companies that hold large numbers of patents and other intellectual property rights and that vigorously pursue, protect and enforce intellectual property rights. From time to time, third parties may assert against us and our customers and distributors their patents and other intellectual property rights to technologies that are important to our business.

Claims that our products or technology infringe third-party intellectual property rights, regardless of their merit or resolution, are frequently costly to defend or settle, and divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel. In addition, many of our supply agreements require us to indemnify our customers and distributors from third-party infringement claims, which have in the past and may in the future require that we defend those claims and might require that we pay damages in the case of adverse rulings. Claims of this sort also could harm our relationships with our customers and might deter future customers from doing business with us. We do not know whether we will prevail in these proceedings given the complex technical issues and inherent uncertainties in intellectual property litigation. If any pending or future proceedings result in an adverse outcome, we could be required to:

Any of the foregoing results could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our success depends in part upon our ability to protect our intellectual property. To accomplish this, we rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as customary contractual protections with our customers, distributors, employees and consultants, and security measures to protect our trade secrets. We cannot guarantee that:

In addition, we may not receive competitive advantages from the rights granted under our patents and other intellectual property rights. Our competitors may develop technologies that are similar or superior to our proprietary technologies, duplicate our proprietary technologies, or design around the patents we own or license. Our existing and future patents may be circumvented, blocked, licensed to others, or challenged as to inventorship, ownership, scope, validity or enforceability. Effective intellectual property protection may be unavailable or more limited in one or more relevant jurisdictions relative to those protections available in the U.S., or may not be applied for in one or more relevant jurisdictions. If we pursue litigation to assert our intellectual property rights, an adverse decision in any of these legal actions could limit our ability to assert our intellectual property rights, limit the value of our technology or otherwise negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are a party to a number of patent and intellectual property license agreements. Some of these license agreements require us to make one-time or periodic payments. We may need to obtain additional licenses or renew existing license agreements in the future. We are unable to predict whether these license agreements can be obtained or renewed on acceptable terms.

We recognize the increasing volume of cyber-attacks and employ commercially practical efforts to provide reasonable assurance such attacks are appropriately mitigated. Each year, we evaluate the threat profile of our industry to stay abreast of trends and to provide reasonable assurance our existing countermeasures will address any new threats identified. Despite our implementation of security measures, our IT systems and those of our service providers are vulnerable to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including acts of malfeasance, acts of terror, acts of government, natural disasters, civil unrest, and denial of service attacks, any of which may lead to the theft of our intellectual property and trade secrets or business disruption. To the extent that any disruption or security breach results in a loss or damage to our data or an inappropriate disclosure of confidential information, it could cause significant damage to our reputation, affect our relationships with our customers, suppliers and employees, lead to claims against the companyus and ultimately harm our business. Additionally, we may be required to incur significant costs to protect against damage caused by these disruptions or security breaches in the future.

None.

At September 30, 2019,2021, our operating segments, including all consolidated joint ventures, had the following facilities in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico and the Asia-Pacific region. For purposes of these numbers, multiple facilities in one geographic location are counted as one facility.