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Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2013
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Contingencies | 22. CONTINGENCIES
[a] | In the ordinary course of business activities, the Company may be contingently liable for litigation and claims with customers, suppliers, former employees and other parties. In addition, the Company may be, or could become, liable to incur environmental remediation costs to bring environmental contamination levels back within acceptable legal limits. On an ongoing basis, the Company assesses the likelihood of any adverse judgments or outcomes to these matters as well as potential ranges of probable costs and losses.
A determination of the provision required, if any, for these contingencies is made after analysis of each individual issue. The required provision may change in the future due to new developments in each matter or changes in approach such as a change in settlement strategy in dealing with these matters. In November 1997, the Company and two of its subsidiaries were sued by KS Centoco Ltd., an Ontario-based steering wheel manufacturer in which the Company has a 23% equity interest, and by Centoco Holdings Limited, the owner of the remaining 77% equity interest in KS Centoco Ltd. In March 1999, the plaintiffs were granted leave to make substantial amendments to the original statement of claim in order to add several new defendants and claim additional remedies, and in February 2006, the plaintiffs further amended their claim to add an additional remedy. The amended statement of claim alleges, among other things:
| • |  | breach of fiduciary duty by the Company and two of its subsidiaries;
| • |  | breach by the Company of its binding letter of intent with KS Centoco Ltd., including its covenant not to have any interest, directly or indirectly, in any entity that carries on the airbag business in North America, other than through MST Automotive Inc., a company to be 77% owned by Magna and 23% owned by Centoco Holdings Limited;
| • |  | the plaintiff’s exclusive entitlement to certain airbag technologies in North America pursuant to an exclusive licence agreement, together with an accounting of all revenues and profits resulting from the alleged use by the Company, TRW Inc. [“TRW”] and other unrelated third party automotive supplier defendants of such technology in North America;
| • |  | a conspiracy by the Company, TRW and others to deprive KS Centoco Ltd. of the benefits of such airbag technology in North America and to cause Centoco Holdings Limited to sell to TRW its interest in KS Centoco Ltd. in conjunction with the Company’s sale to TRW of its interest in MST Automotive GmbH and TEMIC Bayern-Chemie Airbag GmbH; and
| • |  | oppression by the defendants.
The plaintiffs are seeking, amongst other things, damages of approximately Cdn$3.5 billion. Document production, completion of undertakings and examinations for discovery are substantially complete, although limited additional examinations for discovery may occur. A trial is not expected to commence until late 2014, at the earliest. The Company believes it has valid defences to the plaintiffs’ claims and therefore intends to continue to vigorously defend this case. Notwithstanding the amount of time which has transpired since the claim was filed, these legal proceedings remain at an early stage and, accordingly, it is not possible to predict their outcome.
[b] | A putative class action lawsuit alleging violations of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 was filed in May 2012 in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, against the Company, its Chief Executive Officer and its Chief Financial Officer, as well as its founder. Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust [“BBNPT”] was appointed the lead plaintiff on an uncontested motion in July 2012. BBNPT subsequently filed an amended complaint in October 2012, following which the defendants filed a motion seeking dismissal of the lawsuit. On August 23, 2013, the Court granted the Company’s motion and dismissed the lawsuit “with prejudice”. BBNPT appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and filed an appellant brief on December 18, 2013. Following discussions between the parties, on January 16, 2014, the United States District Court entered a Stipulation and Order regarding dismissal of the Appeal, as agreed by the parties. In accordance with that Stipulation and Order, BBNPT filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the appeal, which the Court of Appeal granted on January 30, 2014, ending the action.
[c] | On September 24, 2013, representatives of the Bundeskartellamt, the German Federal Cartel Office [the “Cartel Office”], attended at one of the Company’s operating divisions in Germany to obtain information in connection with an ongoing antitrust investigation relating to suppliers of automobile textile coverings and components, particularly trunk linings. Investigations of this nature can continue for several years. Where wrongful conduct is found, the Cartel Office has the authority to impose administrative fines that are calculated in accordance with formula-based guidelines tied to the level of affected sales, the gravity of the infringement, the consolidated sales of the group of companies to which the offending entity belongs, as well as other mitigating and aggravating factors.
The Company’s policy is to comply with all applicable laws, including antitrust and competition laws. In light of the early stage of the investigation, management is unable to predict its duration or outcome, including whether any operating division of the Company could be found liable for any violation of law or the extent of any fine, if found to be liable. In the event of any such violation, any fines imposed under the Cartel Office guidelines referred to above could have a material adverse effect on Magna’s profitability in the year such fine is imposed.
[d] | In certain circumstances, the Company is at risk for warranty costs including product liability and recall costs. Due to the nature of the costs, the Company makes its best estimate of the expected future costs [note 14]; however, the ultimate amount of such costs could be materially different. The Company continues to experience increased customer pressure to assume greater warranty responsibility. Currently, under most customer agreements, the Company only accounts for existing or probable claims. Under certain complete vehicle engineering and assembly contracts, the Company records an estimate of future warranty-related costs based on the terms of the specific customer agreements, and the specific customer’s warranty experience.

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