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Employee Benefit Plans
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]  
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

The components of net periodic benefit cost (credit) are as follows:

 
 
Pension Benefits
 
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
 
September 30,
 
September 30,
 
 
2012
 
2011
 
2012
 
2011
 
 
(in millions)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Service cost
 
$
0.7

 
$
1.2

 
$
2.3

 
$
3.4

Interest cost
 
8.9

 
9.2

 
26.5

 
27.6

Expected asset return
 
(8.0
)
 
(7.9
)
 
(24.0
)
 
(23.7
)
Amortized loss
 
1.9

 
1.1

 
5.5

 
3.3

Amortized prior service cost
 
0.1

 
—

 
0.1

 
—

Net periodic benefit cost
 
$
3.6

 
$
3.6

 
$
10.4

 
$
10.6

 
 
 
 
 
Other Postretirement Benefits
 
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
 
September 30,
 
September 30,
 
 
2012
 
2011
 
2012
 
2011
 
 
(in millions)
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Service cost
 
$
0.1

 
$
0.2

 
$
0.3

 
$
0.6

Interest cost
 
3.8

 
4.3

 
11.6

 
12.9

Amortized loss
 
0.1

 
0.1

 
0.5

 
0.3

Amortized prior service credit
 
(0.3
)
 
(0.8
)
 
(1.3
)
 
(2.4
)
Curtailment gain
 
—

 
—

 
(21.8
)
 
—

Settlement
 
—

 
—

 
(5.2
)
 
—

Net periodic benefit cost (credit)
 
$
3.7

 
$
3.8

 
$
(15.9
)
 
$
11.4



In the first quarter of 2012, we recorded a gain of $21.8 million in cost of goods sold for the curtailment of certain other postretirement benefits (OPEB). This resulted primarily from the reduction in expected future OPEB related to the DMC and CKMF hourly associates who have terminated employment from AAM as a result of our plant closures. These curtailment gains resulted in an increase in our accumulated other comprehensive loss of $21.8 million.
As a result of our election to apply the provisions of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), in addition to certain actions we took during the third quarter of 2012, we agreed to provide pension and postretirement benefits to certain eligible UAW associates whose employment had been terminated in connection with the DMC and CKMF plant closures. In the nine months ended September 30, 2012, we recorded $28.7 million in cost of goods sold, of which $28.1 million was recorded in the second quarter of 2012, for these pension and postretirement benefits. In the third quarter of 2012, we reclassified the liability of $28.1 million originally recorded in the second quarter of 2012 from accrued expenses and other current liabilities to postretirement benefits and other long-term liabilities. These incremental pension and postretirement benefits were also agreed to in connection with the lawsuit filed by the International UAW against AAM. See Note 12 - Litigation for more detail on this pending lawsuit.
Also as a result of providing these incremental pension and postretirement benefits, we remeasured our U.S. hourly pension and OPEB plans as of September 30, 2012. These remeasurements resulted in an increase in postretirement and other long-term liabilities of $158.6 million, an increase in the GM postretirement cost sharing asset of $34.8 million and a decrease in our accumulated other comprehensive loss of $95.1 million on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.  These net adjustments relate to changes in actuarial assumptions since the January 1, 2012 valuation of the assets and liabilities of our U.S. hourly pension and OPEB plans.

Effective August 1, 2012, we amended our AAM Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) to include an actuarial increase provision for participants that work past the age of 65, among other things. As a result of these plan amendments, we remeasured our SERP plan in the third quarter of 2012, which increased postretirement benefits and other long-term liabilities by $10.4 million on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.

In the second quarter of 2012, we notified hourly associates of the termination of a benefit plan, which provided legal services to certain eligible hourly associates represented by the International UAW. As a result of terminating this plan, we recorded a settlement gain of $5.2 million in cost of goods sold in the second quarter of 2012. Recognition of this settlement gain reduced postretirement benefits and other long-term liabilities by $4.7 million and also reduced our accumulated other comprehensive loss by $0.5 million.

We contributed $225.0 million to our pension trusts in the first nine months of 2012, which included our regulatory pension funding requirements of approximately $35 million. We contributed $26.2 million to our pension trusts in the first nine months of 2011.

On September 27, 2012, AAM and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation entered into an agreement regarding any liability that may have arisen under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 in connection with the closures of the DMC and CKMF. As part of this agreement, in September 2012, we contributed $114.7 million in excess of our statutory minimums to our hourly pension plan, which is included in the contributions described above.

We expect our cash outlay for other postretirement benefit obligations in 2012, net of GM cost sharing, to be approximately $16 million.