GENTHERM Inc - Annual Report: 2019 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

or

for the transition period from                       to                      .

Commission file number 0-21810

GENTHERM INCORPORATED

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (248) 504-0500

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.   ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price of such Common Stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, June 28, 2019, was $1,378,276,957. For purposes of this computation, the registrant has excluded the market value of all shares of its Common Stock reported as being beneficially owned by executive officers and directors; such exclusion shall not, however, be deemed to constitute an admission that any such person is an “affiliate” of the registrant.

As of February 14, 2020, there were 32,803,041 issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock of the registrant.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the proxy statement for the 2020 annual meeting of shareholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report to the extent described herein.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENTHERM INCORPORATED

PART I

Unless otherwise indicated, references to “Gentherm”, “the Company”, “we”, “our” and “us” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“this Report”) refer to Gentherm Incorporated and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Except to the extent expressly noted herein, the content of our website or the websites of other third parties noted herein are not incorporated by reference in this Report.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent our goals, beliefs, plans and expectations about our prospects for the future and other future events, such as our ability to execute our strategic plan and Manufacturing Footprint Rationalization restructuring plan (defined below), our ability to finance sufficient working capital, the amount of availability under the Amended Credit Agreement (defined below), our ability to maintain or increase sales and profitability of our operations, and the sufficiency of our cash balances and cash generated from operating, investing and financing activities for our future liquidity and capital resource needs.  Reference is made in particular to forward-looking statements included in “Item 1. Business,”, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Such statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “believe”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “continue”, or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of such terms.  The forward-looking statements included in this Report are made as of the date hereof or as of the date specified and are based on management’s reasonable expectations and beliefs.  Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are set forth in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Report, and subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from that described in the forward looking statements.  Except as required by law, we expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

General

Gentherm Incorporated is a global developer and marketer of innovative thermal management technologies for a broad range of heating and cooling and temperature control applications. Our products provide solutions for automotive passenger climate comfort and convenience, battery thermal management and cell connecting systems, as well as patient temperature management within the health care industry. Our automotive products can be found on the vehicles of nearly all major automotive manufacturers operating in North America and Europe, and several major automotive manufacturers in Asia. We operate in locations aligned with our major customers’ product strategies to provide locally enhanced design, integration and production capabilities. The Company is also developing a number of new technologies and products that will help enable improvements to existing products and to create new product applications for existing and new markets.

On February 1, 2019, the Company completed the divestiture of its environmental test equipment business, Cincinnati Sub Zero industrial chamber business (“CSZ-IC”), and on October 1, 2019, the Company completed the divestiture of its remote power generation systems business, Gentherm Global Power Technologies (“GPT”).  

The Company has two reportable segments for financial reporting purposes: Automotive and Industrial.

Automotive

The Automotive reporting segment is comprised of the results from our global automotive businesses. Operating results from our climate comfort systems, specialized automotive cable systems, battery thermal management, and automotive electronic and software systems are all reported in the Automotive segment because of their complementary focus on automotive content, passenger thermal comfort and convenience.  

Climate and comfort system solutions include seat heaters, blowers and thermoelectric devices for variable temperature Climate Control Seats (“CCS”) designed to provide individualized thermal comfort to automobile passengers, and integrated electronic

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components, such as electronic control units that utilize our proprietary electronics technology and software. Other climate comfort system solutions include steering wheel heaters, neck conditioners and climate control system products for door panels, armrests, cupholders and storage bins.

Battery thermal management system solutions include battery cooling modules for 12V and 48V automotive batteries.

Automotive electronic and software systems solutions include electronic control units for climate and comfort system solutions and new proprietary electronic control units for memory seat modules.

Industrial

The Industrial reporting segment represents the combined results from our patient temperature management systems business (“Medical”), GPT (through October 1, 2019), CSZ-IC (through February 1, 2019) and Gentherm’s advanced research and development division. The operating results from these businesses and division are presented together as one reporting segment because of their historical joint concentration on identifying new markets and product applications based on thermal management technologies.

Corporate Information

We are incorporated under the laws of the State of Michigan. We were originally incorporated in California in 1991 and we reincorporated in Michigan in 2005. Our internet website is www.gentherm.com. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are made available free of charge through our website, www.gentherm.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with or furnish them to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are also available on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website, www.sec.gov.

Business Strategy

Across the globe, we produce and deliver advanced thermal solutions for automotive and patient thermal management markets that positively impact lives. To achieve our goals and capitalize on opportunities within the automotive and patient thermal management markets, we launched in mid-2018 and continue to implement four primary strategies:

Focus Growth

The focused growth strategy includes four key goals:

These areas of the focused growth strategy are underpinned and enabled by our electronics and software systems business.

Extend Technology Leadership

We continue to expand our technology leadership with focused investments in key core technologies and competencies, including thermophysiology, software and electronics, simulation, thermal engines and integration.  

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Expand Gross Margin and Return on Invested Capital

We are strengthening our operational discipline and execution to expand gross margin and return on invested capital. This strategy centers around building a culture of performance that includes a focus on high-return growth opportunities, and the Fit-for-Growth cost rationalization program.  It also included the divestiture of non-core investments, which was completed in 2019. During 2018, we initiated this strategy through the sale of our battery management systems division located in Irvine, California and the site consolidation of its advanced research and development operations, which resulting in vacating two lease facilities in Azusa, California.  Further, we exited several product categories including furniture, aviation, battery management electronics, industrial battery packs, automotive thermoelectric generators and other non-core electronics.  Additionally, we undertook restructuring actions to reduce global overhead costs to improve selling, general and administrative expense.

Optimize Capital Allocation

We are optimizing our capital allocation to drive shareholder returns, including through stock repurchases, while also allowing us to reinvest in our business to drive continued growth. We make investments to grow our businesses through capital expenditure projects, focused research and development investments, and evaluate acquisition opportunities that will enhance other business strategies.

Recent Acquisitions and Dispositions

As part of our plan to make strategic acquisitions and dispositions, we have completed the following significant transactions since 2018:

On April 1, 2019, Gentherm acquired Stihler Electronic GmbH (“Stihler”), a leading developer and manufacturer of patient and blood temperature management systems, for a purchase price of $15.5 million, net of cash acquired.

On February 1, 2019, we completed the sale of CSZ-IC and the CSZ headquarters facility to Weiss Technik North America, Inc. for total cash proceeds of $47.5 million.  On October 1, 2019, we completed the divestiture of GPT. Both businesses were classified as held-for-sale as of December 31, 2018.

See Note 4 of the consolidated financial statements for information regarding the Company’s recent acquisitions and divestitures.

Research and Development

Our research and development activities are an essential part of our efforts to develop new or improved innovative products.  Through both internal and external research and development programs, we are working to develop a comprehensive knowledge of thermal management systems that can demonstrate functionality and performance.  These activities are critical to optimizing energy and production efficiencies, improving effectiveness in our products, and minimizing the cost to integrate our products with those of our customers.

We perform advanced research and development on thermal management systems, including those that utilize new proprietary comfort software algorithms, to enhance the efficiency and functionality of our automotive heating and cooling products. We believe there are substantial opportunities to integrate innovative thermal management systems into current and future product applications.

Research and development is conducted around the globe, predominately at our world headquarters in Northville, Michigan, our Technology Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan and our European research facilities in Odelzhausen, Germany.

Additional product development is performed at all of our manufacturing facilities to support customers.  We believe the localized development model employed at our global design and manufacturing facilities improves our ability to effectively serve our customers and increases our innovative capacity.

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Core Technologies

Gentherm’s expertise in thermal management is focused on two general areas: managing the thermal conditions of people and objects.  

Thermoelectric Technologies

Many of our thermal products manage the thermal conditions of people and objects using our internally developed advanced thermoelectric device technology (“TED”). A TED is a solid-state circuit that has the capability to produce both hot and cold thermal conditions by use of the Peltier effect. The advantages of advanced TEDs over conventional compressed gas systems are that they are environmentally friendly and less complex as they have no moving parts and are compact and light weight.  Over the last 18 years, our work on this technology has yielded improvements in areas of functionality, efficiency, durability and performance.

Resistive Heaters

Resistive heater technologies are comprised of wire, carbon fiber or positive thermal coefficient (“PTC”) heating elements which quickly and effectively deliver heat to people and objects.  Wire heating elements are designed from stainless steel, copper, our proprietary carbon fiber woven lattice technology called Carbotex® or printed circuit PTC heaters based on the specifications for a particular product application.

ClimateSense^TM

ClimateSense is an integrated comfort system designed to create a personalized microclimate for passengers using localized convective, conductive and radiative heating and cooling products.  Using automatic regulation technology, ClimateSense offers the ability to personalize and improve overall occupant thermal comfort, improve time to comfort with (all-electric) pre-conditioning, provide comfort with less energy consumption thereby lowering carbon dioxide emissions by conventional internal combustion and hybrid powertrains, and extending range for electrified powertrains through a reduction in central HVAC system usage.

Electronics

Gentherm manufactures and supplies electronics to our core climate comfort solution products.  We also supply value-added electronic products to third parties for adjacent areas within the automotive interior.  Gentherm also manufacturers and supplies electronic control units for memory seat modules that include electric motor position sensing technology.

Automotive Cable Systems

Gentherm produces automotive cable systems used to connect automotive components to sources of power. The automotive cable systems are an important element in the production of many of our products and form a significant component in how we generate value to our customers by being an efficient, low-cost and high-quality manufacturer. We offer cable systems as integrated parts of our products and also as stand-alone components for other automotive applications, such as oxygen sensors.  Our cable systems business includes both ready-made individual cables and ready-to-install cable networks. Sales of products that utilize our automotive cable systems technology represented 9% of our total product revenues for years ending December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Air Moving Devices

Our highly durable and quiet air moving devices, including our proprietary blower and fan designs, are essential to all of our products that require air movement.

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Products

Climate Comfort Solutions – Seat Comfort

Climate Control Seat® (“CCS”)

Our CCS products utilize exclusive patented technology to regulate temperature and enhance the comfort of vehicle passengers. The most advanced CCS models use one or more TEDs to generate heating or cooling depending upon the direction of the current applied to the device.

A TED is the heart of a compact heat pump used in our active CCS products. Air is forced through the heat pump and thermally conditioned in response to electronic switch input from the seat occupant. The conditioned air circulates by one of our specially designed air moving devices through a proprietary air distribution system installed in the seat cushion and seat back, so that the seat surface can be heated or cooled. Each seat has individual electronic controls to adjust the level of heating or cooling. Active CCS products improve comfort compared with conventional air conditioners by focusing cooling directly on the passenger through the seat rather than waiting until ambient air cools the seat surface beneath the passenger.  A heated and ventilated variant of the CCS utilizes ambient cabin air to provide cooling comfort instead of a TED to actively cool the seat. In the heating mode, the vent-only system is supplemented with resistive heating elements.  

Heated and ventilated CCS products provide a lower level of cooling capability than our active CCS solution, but at a lower price. By offering different models of the CCS product, our customers have the opportunity to purchase a wider range of climate control products at different price points. Sales of CCS products contributed 37%, 36% and 39% to our total product revenues for the years ending December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  

Heated Seat

Heated seats, based on our resistive heater core technology, are seamlessly integrated into automotive seat designs, and are constructed using materials that offer the best capacity, installation characteristics and durability.  Our capabilities allow customers to choose among a variety of resistive heater materials based on their individual vehicle specifications. Sales of heated seat products contributed 29%, 29% and 31% to our total product revenues for the years ending December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  

Neck Climate Control Systems

Neck climate control systems ventilate warm or temperature-controlled air directly onto the passenger’s neck area. The system combines electronics, air moving device technologies and a heating element into a compact, integrated headrest design that can be adjusted to suit the body size of the passenger.  

Climate Comfort Solutions – Surface Climate Control Systems

Heated Steering Wheel

Heated steering wheels deliver heating comfort to automobile drivers through resistive elements. This product can be applied to both leather and wood steering wheels.  A solution for drivers in cold and mild weather climates, the heated steering wheel is designed for the global automotive market.  

Heated Surfaces

Gentherm’s thermally conductive or radiative surfaces, such as door panel armrest and center console armrest products, are powered by our core technologies. The system is thermally managed by a heating control system which can be discretely located in the door panel or seat of the vehicle.  Heated door panels and armrests complement our climate-controlled seat and steering wheel products and provide a superior level of thermal comfort to the driving experience.  

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Battery Sub-Systems

Thermoelectric Battery Thermal Management (BTM)

Thermal management is critically important for the long-term operation of advanced automotive batteries.  The expansion of electrified vehicle applications, such as 48-volt electrical networks, start-stop systems, regenerative braking systems and other micro-hybrid battery implementations, have drastically increased the demand for BTM systems solutions which enable wider operating temperature ranges, enhanced driving range and prolonged life of the battery.  Gentherm’s BTM system can provide precision battery cooling on pack or cell-level using patented TED technology.  The BTM system maintains the temperature of the lithium-ion battery or other advanced chemistry battery within an acceptable temperature range without the use of chilled liquids or refrigerant loops, making it a light weight, highly scalable, compact solution ideal for automotive applications. Gentherm’s proprietary BTM system is compact and energy efficient, resulting in a minimal energy budget, which is important for an electrified vehicle.  We are currently working with original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) to secure more production contracts.

Cell Connecting Systems

Cell connecting systems provide secure connections between advanced automotive batteries to transmit a continuous flow of information about battery temperature and cell voltage during the charging and discharging process to monitor battery system performance. Gentherm has developed a range of cell connecting system products, including flexible foil cell connecting boards that offer improved packaging, weight and functionality.

Climate Comfort Solutions – Thermal Convenience

TrueTherm^TM Cup Holder

The TrueTherm cup holder applies Gentherm’s patented TED technologies to keep beverages of automobile drivers and passengers either warm or cool.  We have developed a range of cup holder models with varying degrees of functionality, designed to be packaged in multiple configurations to accommodate different console environments.  Our dual independent design provides separate temperature settings in each holder allowing the driver and passenger to individually maintain a heated or cooled beverage.  

TrueTherm^TM Storage Unit

Gentherm’s TrueTherm storage units provide for food or beverage cooling for the global automotive market.  Using patented TED or refrigeration technologies, the TrueTherm cool storage unit provides temperature control independently from a vehicle’s heating and air conditioning system.  It can be custom designed to accommodate tight interior spaces, such as the front floor console of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) and provide additional cooling capacity to those who have long work commutes or transport multiple passengers.  

Patient Temperature Management Systems

Gentherm provides a full line of patient temperature management systems across multiple product categories addressing the needs of hyper-hypothermia therapy in intensive care, normothermia in surgical procedures, and additional warming/cooling therapies utilized in acute care, ambulatory, clinics and home health.  Our core brands include Blanketrol® hyper-hypothermia system, WarmAir®/FilteredFlo® convective warming system, Electri-Cool®/Micro-Temp® localized cooling/warming systems, Hemotherm® cardiovascular cooling/warming system and our recent launch of our next generation cardiovascular cooling/warming system utilized to deliver precise blood temperature control during cardiopulmonary by-pass and other related cardiovascular procedures. We aspire to have innovative patient temperature management product offerings coupled with clinical education enabling our customers to have enhanced patient outcomes and improved efficiencies of care.

In April 2019, Gentherm acquired Stihler to further strengthen our patient temperature management offering in the operating room focused on normothermia.  The Stihler core brands include ASTOPAD^TM patient warming system, ASTOTHERM^TM/ASTOFLO^TM IV fluid and blood warming systems and ASTODIA^TM diaphanoscope for transillumination.  The ASTOPAD^TM patient warming system utilizes resistive warming technology which is also used in our automotive products.  Gentherm is now focused on globalizing the Stihler portfolio and integrating across key sales channels.  

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Marketing, Customers and Sales

Our Automotive segment customers include light vehicle OEMs, commercial vehicle OEMs, and first tier (“Tier 1”) suppliers to the automotive OEMs, including automotive seat manufacturers.  We also directly supply CCS products to aftermarket seat distributors and installers.

The Company’s automotive marketing is directed primarily at automotive manufacturers and their Tier 1 suppliers and focuses on the enhanced value consumers attribute to vehicles with climate comfort products. In many cases, the manufacturers direct us to work with their suppliers to integrate our products into the vehicle’s seat or interior design. These customers will sell our product, as a component of an entire seat or seating system, to automotive OEMs. Once the integration work is complete, prototypes are sent to the manufacturer for evaluation and testing. If a manufacture accepts our product, a program can then be launched for a particular model on a production basis, but it normally takes two to three years from the time a manufacturer decides to include any of our products in a vehicle model to actual production for that vehicle. During this process, we derive funding from prototype sales but obtain no significant revenue until mass production begins. Inherent to the automotive supplier market are costs and commitments that are incurred well in advance of the receipt of orders and resulting revenues from customers.

The volume of products we sell is significantly affected by global automotive production levels and the general business conditions in the automotive industry.

For 2019, our revenues from sales to our three largest customers, Lear, Adient and Bosch Automotive were $156.9 million, $145.8 million, and $67.2 million, respectively, representing 16%, 15%, and 7% of our product revenues, respectively. Revenues from Adient and Lear represent sales of our climate comfort products.  Revenues from Bosch Automotive represent product sales based on our automobile cable system technology and is used primarily in the production of automotive oxygen sensors. The loss of any one of these customers would likely have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and cash flows. However, as noted above, in many cases our approach is to market climate comfort solutions, battery thermal management and cable technology products to the OEMs who then direct their suppliers, such as Adient and Lear, to work with us. It is, therefore, relevant to understand how our revenues are divided among the OEMs, as shown below.

Our total product revenues for each of the past three years were divided among automotive OEMs as follows:

 Outsourcing, Production and Suppliers

Our global manufacturing and distribution facilities are located close to our key customers. In Europe we operate three manufacturing sites located in Macedonia, Germany and Ukraine and one distribution center located in Hungary. In North America, we operate three manufacturing sites in Mexico, one in the United States and one in Canada. In Asia, we operate three production sites in China and one in Vietnam.

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We rely on various domestic and foreign vendors and suppliers to supply components for our products through purchase orders, with no guaranteed supply arrangements. Components for certain products, including TEDs, are only available from a limited number of suppliers in the world. The loss of any significant supplier, in the absence of a timely and satisfactory alternative arrangement, or an inability to obtain essential components on reasonable terms or at all, could materially adversely affect our business, operations and cash flows. Our business and operations could also be materially adversely affected by delays in deliveries from our suppliers.

Proprietary Rights and Patents

The development of new or improved technologies is critical to the execution of our business strategy. Patents obtained for new or improved technologies form an important basis for the success of the Company and underpin the success of our research and development efforts. We have adopted a policy of obtaining, where practical, the exclusive rights to use technology related to our products through patents or licenses for proprietary technologies or processes. We adapt and commercialize such technologies in products for mass production. We also have developed technologies or furthered the development of acquired technologies through internal research and development efforts.

As of December 31, 2019, Gentherm held 574 issued patents. Gentherm held 431 patents directed to climate control products and thermoelectric technologies, 92 patents directed at heating elements and technologies, 24 patents directed to medical technologies, 19 patents directed to air moving devices and 8 patents directed to cable and cell connector battery technologies. In furtherance of its Focused Growth strategy, the Company evaluated its patents during 2019 and made strategic decisions to reduce low-value patents and patents unrelated to current or planned business strategies.

Competition

See further discussion of the risks relating to competition in Item 1A, “Risk Factors”.

Gentherm faces competition from other automotive suppliers and, with respect to certain products, from the automobile OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers who produce or have the capability to produce certain products Gentherm supplies. The automotive supply industry competes on the basis of technology, quality, reliability of supply and price. Design, engineering capability and competitive pricing are increasingly important factors.

The competitive landscape for Gentherm’s climate comfort solutions and battery sub-systems includes: component specialists, thermal management system suppliers and tier-one suppliers or automobile OEMs with their own integrated solutions.  Independent suppliers that represent the principal competitors of Gentherm include I.G. Bauerhin GmbH, Kongsberg Automotive ASA, Lisa DRÄXLMAIER GmbH and ElringKlinger AG.  

The competitive landscape for patient temperature management systems includes patient thermal management medical device OEMs.  The principal competitors of Gentherm include 3M Company Co, Stryker Corporation and Becton, Dickinson and Company.

We believe our expertise in core thermal management technologies and occupant thermal comfort, as well as its capability in application specific component design, global footprint and broad product offerings make it well positioned to compete against the traditional thermal management systems suppliers, global tier-one's and component specialists.

Seasonality

Our principal operations are directly related to the automotive industry. Consequently, we have historically experienced seasonal fluctuations to the extent automotive vehicle production slows, such as in the summer months when many customer plants close for model year changeovers and in December when many customer plants close for the holidays. See Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for selected quarterly financial data.  

Backlog

Our product revenues are generally based upon purchase orders issued by our customers, with updated releases for volume adjustments. As such, we typically do not have a backlog of firm orders at any point in time. Once selected to supply products for a particular platform, we typically supply those products for the platform life, which is normally five to seven years, although there is no guarantee that this will occur. In addition, when we are the incumbent supplier to a given platform, we believe we have a competitive advantage in winning the redesign or replacement platform, although there is no guarantee that this will occur.

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Employees

As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, Gentherm’s employment levels worldwide were as follows:

Gentherm retains the services of outside contractors from time to time. Certain of our employees are represented by unions or works councils.  We maintain good relations with both our union and non-union employees.

You should carefully consider each of the risks, assumptions, uncertainties and other factors described below and elsewhere in this Report, as well as any amendments or updates reflected in subsequent filings or furnishings with the SEC.  We believe these risks, assumptions, uncertainties and other factors, individually or in the aggregate, could cause our actual results to differ materially from expected and historical results and could materially and adversely affect our business operations, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.  

Risks Relating to Our Business

The automotive industry, our primary market, is cyclical and a decline in the production levels of our major customers, particularly with respect to models for which we supply significant amounts of product, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our Automotive segment represents 95%, 91% and 89% of our product revenues for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  Demand for our automotive products is directly related to automotive vehicle production, which is ultimately dependent on consumer demand for automotive vehicles, and our content per vehicle. Automotive sales and production are cyclical and have been, and we expect will continue to be, materially affected by general economic and industry conditions, labor relations issues, fuel prices, regulatory requirements, government initiatives, trade agreements, the availability and cost of credit for us, customers and consumers and other factors. IHS Markit recently forecasted light vehicle production volumes of 87.2 million units, a decline of 1.9% from 2019.

We operate in a highly competitive industry and efforts by our competitors, as well as new non-traditional entrants to the industry could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The automotive component supply industry is subject to intense competition. Business is typically awarded to the supplier offering the most favorable combination of cost, quality, timely delivery, technological innovation and service. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully with the products of our competitors. Further, our competitors’ efforts to grow market share could exert downward pressure on our product pricing and margins. Many of our competitors are substantially larger in size and have substantially greater financial, marketing and other resources than we do, and therefore may be more effective in adapting to customer requirements while being more profitable.

In addition, the global automotive industry is experiencing a period of significant technological change. Future automotive vehicle production may be affected by additional industry or consumer behaviors, including the development and use of autonomous and electric vehicles and increasing use of car- and ride-sharing and on-demand transportation as a service, as well as related

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regulations. The rapidly evolving nature of the markets in which we compete has attracted, and may continue to attract, new entrants, including new entrants from outside the traditional automotive supply industry. Further, in comparison to us, our competitors may foresee the course of market developments more accurately, develop superior products, produce similar products at a lower cost, or adapt quicker to new technologies.

If we do not accurately predict, prepare for and respond to new kinds of technological innovations, market developments and changing customer needs, our sales, profitability and long-term competitiveness may be harmed.

If we fail to manage our growth effectively or to integrate successfully any new or future business ventures, acquisitions or strategic alliance into our business, our business could be materially adversely harmed.

We regularly consider opportunities to pursue business ventures, acquisitions, and strategic alliances that could leverage our products and capabilities, as well as, enhance our customer base, geographic penetration and scale, to complement our current businesses, some of which could be material. Finding and assessing a potential growth opportunity and completing a transaction involves extensive due diligence, management time and expense; however, the amount of information we can obtain about a potential growth opportunity may be limited. Further, we can give no assurance that new business ventures, acquisitions, and strategic alliances will positively affect our financial performance or will perform as planned, including regarding anticipated synergies. We may not be able to successfully assimilate or integrate companies that we acquire, including personnel, financial systems, distribution, operations, internal controls and general operating procedures. Further, for significant transactions, we would expect to incur additional debt, issue equity and/or increase capital expenditures, which may increase leverage risks, result in dilution or reduce capital available for other investments in ongoing operations. If we fail to assimilate or integrate acquired companies successfully, our business, reputation and results of operations could be materially impacted. Likewise, our failure to integrate and manage acquired companies successfully may lead to future impairment of any associated goodwill and intangible asset balances. Given our limited history in the patient temperature management business, the foregoing risks may be heightened due to our lack of experience in integrating similar businesses.

As part of the Company’s ongoing Fit-for-Growth initiative, the Company consummated divestitures to eliminate investments in non-core businesses, and the Company may consider strategic dispositions in the future. However, we may not achieve some or all of the targeted results we originally anticipated at the time of disposition, and we may need to provide material transition services or retain material liabilities to complete the transaction, any of which could have an adverse impact on our returns and our overall profitability.

The loss or insolvency of any of our principal customers would adversely affect our future results.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, our top two customers were Lear and Adient which comprised 16% and 15%, respectively, of our product revenues. We are dependent on the continued growth, viability and financial stability of our customers, as well as the OEMS to which our products are supplied. The loss of any significant portion of our sales to any of our customers would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, we have significant receivable balances related to these customers that would be at risk in the event of their bankruptcy or other restructuring.  

We manage our business based on projected future sales volume, which is highly dependent on information received from customers and general market data, and any inaccuracies or changes in such information could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We manage our business based upon projected future sales volumes, which are based upon many factors, including awarded business and assumptions of conversion rates thereof, customers’ forecasts and general market data. Our customers generally do not guarantee sales volumes. In addition, awarded business may include business under arrangements that our customers have the right to terminate without penalty at any time. Further, our customers’ forecasts are subject to numerous assumptions, and such forecasts often are/may be changed rapidly with limited notice. Therefore, our actual sales volumes, and thus the ultimate amount of revenue that we derive from such sales, are not committed. If actual production orders from our customers are not consistent with our projected future sales volumes, we could realize substantially less revenue and incur greater expenses over the life of vehicle programs.

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Our inability to achieve product cost reductions which offset customer-imposed price reductions could adversely affect our financial performance.

Downward pricing pressure is customarily applied by automotive manufacturers to the automotive supply chain. Our customer contracts generally provide for annual price reductions over the production life of the vehicle, while requiring us to assume significant responsibility for the design, development and engineering of our products. Prices may also be adjusted on an ongoing basis to reflect changes in product content/costs and other commercial factors. Our inability to achieve product cost reductions that offset customer-imposed price reductions could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our inability to effectively manage the development, timing, quality and costs of new product launches could adversely affect our financial performance.

Gentherm is developing and launching new products and related technologies for its battery thermal management and electronic and software systems businesses, and intends to launch other new products in the future. The launch of products employing new technologies is a complex process, the success of which depends on a wide range of factors, including the robustness of our product and manufacturing process development, success in sourcing new components and commodities with suitable suppliers, readiness of our and our suppliers' manufacturing facilities and manufacturing processes, as well as factors related to tooling, equipment, employees, initial product quality and other factors. Given the complexity of new product launches, we may experience difficulties managing product quality, timeliness and associated costs. In addition, new program launches require a significant ramp up of costs. However, our sales related to these new programs generally are dependent upon the timing and success of our customers’ introduction of new vehicles. Our inability to effectively manage the timing, quality and costs of these new program launches could have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

To the extent we are not able to successfully launch new business, vehicle production at our customers could be significantly delayed or shut down. Such operating failures could result in significant financial penalties to us or a diversion of personnel and financial resources to improving launches rather than investment in continuous process improvement or other growth initiatives, and could result in our customers shifting work away from us to a competitor. Any of the foregoing matters could result in a significant loss of revenue and market shares and could have an adverse effect on our profitability and cash flows.

Our ability to market our products successfully depends on acceptance of our products by existing and potential customers and consumers, as well as the success of our customers.

We have been, and will continue to be, required to educate potential customers and demonstrate that the merits of our existing products justify the costs associated with them. Similar efforts will be required with existing and potential customers for additional products we develop using technologies we develop or license. Customers will only include our products if there appears to be consumer demand. For our automotive products, we rely on OEMs and applicable dealer networks to market our products to consumers, and we do not have any control over the marketing budget or messaging nor the training of employees and agents regarding our products. Further, OEMs and dealer networks may market products offered by our competitors, including products manufactured by such OEMs. If customers or consumers conclude that temperature control seats or our other automotive products are unnecessary or too expensive or that our competitors offer more favorable sales terms or better products, OEMs and other manufacturers may reduce availability or decline to include our products in their vehicles.

Adverse developments affecting one or more of our suppliers could harm our profitability and business reputation.

Our supply chain may be adversely impacted by events outside of our control, including macro-economic events, trade restrictions, political crises, labor relations issues, liquidity constraints, natural or environmental occurrences or other factors noted herein that can adversely affect us, which may adversely affect our operations and profitability. In particular, many of our products include TEDs, which contain certain raw materials that generally cannot be substituted. The prices for these raw materials fluctuate depending on market conditions. Tellurium, a raw material used in TEDs, and other key raw materials include copper, silver and petroleum-based engineered plastics. If the market prices for these raw materials significantly increases, as they have in the past, our gross profit may be adversely impacted to the extent our suppliers pass those price increases on to us.

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If our suppliers fail to deliver products, parts and components of sufficient quality and to our other stated written expectations on a timely basis, we could have difficulties fulfilling our orders, sales and profits could decline, and our commercial reputation could be damaged. If we were to experience a significant or prolonged shortage of critical components from any of our suppliers, particularly those who are sole sources, and could not procure the components from other sources, we would be unable to meet its production schedules for some of our key products or to ship such products to our customers in a timely fashion which would adversely affect sales, margins and customer relations. Furthermore, unfavorable economic or industry conditions could result in financial distress within our supply base, thereby increasing the risk of supply disruption.

Our business is subject to risks associated with manufacturing processes.

If certain of our existing production facilities become incapable of manufacturing products for any reason, we may be unable to meet production requirements, sales and profits could decline, and our commercial reputation could be damaged. Without operation of certain existing production facilities, we may be limited in our ability to deliver products until we restore the manufacturing capability at the particular facility, find an alternative manufacturing facility or arrange an alternative source of supply.

We maintain property damage insurance that we believe to be adequate to provide for reconstruction of facilities and equipment, as well as business interruption insurance to mitigate losses resulting from any production interruption or shutdown caused by an insured loss. However, any recovery under our insurance policies may not offset the lost sales, harm to our business reputation or increased costs that may be experienced during the disruption of operations. Further, any such proceeds may be received and accounted for in a different reporting period, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow generally or for a specific reporting period.

Work stoppages, including those at our customers, and similar events could significantly disrupt our business

Because the automotive industry relies heavily on “just-in-time” delivery of components, a work stoppage at one or more of Gentherm's production facilities could have adverse effects on the business. Similarly, if one or more of our direct customers or an OEM were to experience a work stoppage, such as what occurred during the General Motors labor strike occurring in fall 2019, our customer would likely halt or limit purchases of our products, which could result in the temporary shutdown of the related Gentherm production facilities or other restructuring initiatives.

Our global operations subject us to risks that may harm our operations and financial results.

In 2019, 55% of our product revenue was generated from sales to customers outside the United States. We have significant personnel, property, equipment and operations in a number of countries outside of the United States, including Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Mexico, Ukraine and Vietnam. Our exposure to the risks described below is substantial. We also derive a significant portion of revenues from Europe and Asia and conduct certain investing and financing activities in local currencies.

In addition to the general risks relating to our operations, our international operations are subject to unique risks inherent in doing business abroad, including:

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In particular, we derived over 20% of our revenue in fiscal 2019 (based on shipment destination) from Japan, China and South Korea. We have three manufacturing facilities in China, and several of our customers, subcontractors and suppliers also are located in China as well as Japan and South Korea. As a result of the coronavirus, our operations, and those of our customers and suppliers, have experienced and in the future may experience delays or disruptions, such as difficulty obtaining components, travel restrictions and temporary suspension of operations. In addition, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent that coronavirus or any other epidemic or outbreak harms motor vehicle product consumption specifically and the economies of China, Japan and South Korea and the world generally

Additionally, our primary manufacturing locations are in Mexico, China, Vietnam, Macedonia and Ukraine, all countries that have historically experienced a heightened degree of political, civil and labor uncertainty. Political conflict and related demonstrations and violence in Ukraine in recent years, for example, highlights the risks to our foreign manufacturing facilities. Although our manufacturing facility in Ukraine is located approximately 700 miles by road from Kiev, and approximately the same distance from the activities along the border of Ukraine and Russia where fighting has occurred, we cannot be certain that similar demonstrations, unrest and international tensions will not affect our facility in the future, including due to electrical outages and periodic battles with separatists closer to our facility. In addition, certain of our employees in Ukraine are routinely conscripted into the military and/or sent to the Russian border to fight in the ongoing conflict. Furthermore, most of our products manufactured in Ukraine are shipped across the border from Ukraine to Hungary for further delivery to our customers. If that border crossing were to be closed or restricted for any reason, we would essentially experience a loss of the use of our Ukrainian facility, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely impacted from a decrease in or cessation or clawback of government incentives related to investments.

We receive economic benefits from national, state and local governments in various regions of the world in the form of incentives designed to encourage manufacturers to establish, maintain or increase investment, workforce or production. These incentives may take various forms, including grants, loan subsidies and tax abatements or credits.  The impact of these incentives can be significant in a particular market during a reporting period.  A decrease in, expiration without renewal of, or other cessation or clawback of government incentives for any of our business units, as a result of administrative decision or otherwise, could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition, as well as our ability to fund new investments.

Changes to trade policy, including tariffs and customs regulations, could have a material and adverse effect on our business.

A significant portion of our business activities are conducted in foreign countries, including Mexico. As a result of changes to U.S. administrative policy, there may be changes to existing trade agreements, like NAFTA and its anticipated successor agreement, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) which is still subject to approval by Canada, greater restrictions on free trade generally, and significant increases in tariffs on goods imported into the U.S., particularly tariffs on products manufactured in Mexico, among other possible changes.

Additionally, during 2018, the U.S. and China applied significant tariffs to certain of each other’s exports. The institution of trade tariffs, both globally and between the U.S. and China specifically, carries the risk of negatively impacting overall economic conditions, which could have negative repercussions on the Company. More directly, imposition of tariffs has caused and could cause further increases in the costs of our raw materials which we may not be able to pass on to our customers in part or in full, which would directly and negatively impact our business.  We purchase a significant amount of raw material components, including products

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manufactured in our China facilities, which are subject to such tariffs.  The imposition of tariffs has caused and could cause further increases in the costs of our raw materials, and we may not be able to mitigate the impact from these tariffs or additional future tariffs.

Most recently, a “phase one” trade deal signed between the U.S. and China on January 15, 2020 accompanied a U.S. decision to cancel a plan to increase tariffs on an additional list of Chinese products. While the signing of the agreement signals a cooling of tensions between the U.S. and China over trade, concerns over the stability of bilateral trade relations remain, particularly given the limited scope of the phase one agreement. Depending upon their duration and implementation, as well as our ability to mitigate their impact, these tariffs, the executive order and its implementation and other regulatory actions could materially affect our business, including in the form of increase cost of goods sold, decreased margins, increased pricing for customers, and reduced sales.

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union may have a negative impact on global economic conditions, financial markets and our financial results.

The United Kingdom left the European Union January 31, 2020 (“Brexit”). Under the current withdrawal agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, the United Kingdom will be subject to a transition period until December 31, 2020, during which European Union rules will continue to apply. The relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union after the transition period has not been determined yet. As a result, the impact of Brexit is not yet known and depends on any agreements the United Kingdom and European Union may make to retain access to each other's markets after the transition period. The measures or lack of any agreement may continue to impact global light vehicle production, and affect the business of and/or our relationships with our customers and suppliers, as well as alter the relationship among tariffs and currencies. In addition, Brexit could lead to legal uncertainly and potentially divergent national laws and regulations, including with respect to data privacy. A withdrawal from the European Union is unprecedented and it is unclear what financial, trade, legal and employment implications the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union will have following the transition period and how the withdrawal will affect us. Adverse consequences such as reduced consumer spending, deterioration in economic conditions, volatility in exchange rates, and prohibitive laws and regulations could have a negative impact on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Tax matters, including changes in the corporate tax rates, disagreement with taxing authorities and imposition of new taxes could impact our results of operations and financial condition.

We are subject to income and other taxes in the U.S. and our operations, plans and results are affected by tax legislation and other initiatives. For example, on December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “Tax Act”) was signed into law by President Trump. The Tax Act contained significant changes to corporate taxation, including reduction of the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, limitation of the tax deduction for interest expense to 30% of earnings (except for certain small business), limitation of the deduction for net operation losses (“NOLs”) to 80% of current year taxable income and elimination of NOL carrybacks, one time taxation of offshore earnings at reduced rates regardless of whether they were repatriated, elimination of U.S. tax on foreign earnings (subject to certain important exceptions), new taxes on certain foreign earnings, a new minimum tax related to payment to foreign subsidiaries and affiliates, immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time, and the modification or repeal of many business deductions and credits. It remains uncertain if, and to what extent, various states will conform to the Tax Act and if foreign countries will react by adopting tax legislation or taking other actions.  

We are also subject to regular reviews, examinations, and audits by the Internal Revenue Service and other taxing authorities with respect to our taxes. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, if a taxing authority disagrees with the positions we have taken, we could face additional tax liability, including interest and penalties. There can be no assurance that payment of such additional amounts upon final adjudication of any disputes will not have a material impact on our result of operations and financial position.

We also need to comply with new, evolving or revised tax laws and regulations. The enactment of or increases in tariffs, or other changes in the application or interpretation of the Tax Act, or on specific products that we sell or with which our products compete, may have an adverse effect on our business or on our results of operations.

Our patient temperature management business is subject to extensive industry regulation and failure to comply with all applicable rules and regulation may adversely impact us.

Our patient temperature management products are subject to extensive, complex, costly and evolving government regulation. In the United States, this is principally administered by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Various regulatory agencies in foreign countries where our medical products are sold also regulate that business. Under both United States and foreign country

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regulations, we are subject to periodic inspection of our facilities (including third-party facilities that are performing services for us), procedures and operations and testing of our products. Following such FDA inspections, should any noncompliance with regulations or other quality issues be noted, we may receive observations, notices, citations and/or warning letters that could require us to get FDA approval of a corrective action plan and modify certain activities identified during the inspection, possibly at a significant cost. We are also required to report adverse events associated with our medical products to the FDA and other foreign regulatory authorities where our products have been approved or received market clearance. Unexpected or serious health or safety concerns could result in liability claims, recalls, market withdrawals or other regulatory actions. Changes in laws or regulations could require us to change the way we operate or to utilize resources to maintain compliance, which could increase costs or otherwise disrupt operations. In addition, failure to comply with any applicable laws or regulations could result in fines or revocation of our operating permits and licenses or, in rare circumstances, market withdrawal of the product.

The process for obtaining governmental approval to manufacture and market new medical devices is time-consuming and costly. We are dependent on receiving FDA and other governmental or third-party approvals prior to manufacturing, marketing and shipping any new medical products. We cannot be certain that any new medical products we develop will receive FDA or other necessary approvals. Also receipt of approval in one country does not guarantee approval by the FDA or any other foreign regulatory agency.

Defects or quality issues associated with our medical products could adversely affect the results of our operations.

The design, manufacture and marketing of medical products involve certain inherent risks. Manufacturing or design defects, component failures, unapproved or improper use of our products, or inadequate disclosure of risks or other information relating to the use of our products can lead to regulatory action, injury or other serious adverse events. These events could lead to recalls or safety alerts relating to our products (either voluntary or as required by the FDA or similar governmental authorities in other countries), and could result, in certain cases, in the removal of a product from the market. A recall, inadequate disclosure or defect could result in significant costs and lost sales and customers, enforcement actions and/or investigations by state and federal governments or other enforcement bodies, as well as negative publicity and damage to our reputation that could reduce future demand for our products. Personal injuries relating to the use of our products can also result in significant product liability claims being brought against us. In some circumstances, such adverse events could also cause delays in regulatory approval of new products or the imposition of post-market approval requirements, such as further clinical testing.  Such clinical testing is costly and time-consuming and could delay market approval or the meeting of additional post-market requirements.

Any failure to comply with anti-corruption laws and regulations could have a material and adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial results.

Our operations outside of the United States require us to comply with various anti-bribery and anti-corruption regulations, including but not limited to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the United Kingdom Bribery Act and the China Anti-Unfair Competition Law. Violations of these laws, which are complex and often difficult to interpret and apply, could result in significant criminal penalties or sanctions that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We are subject to significant foreign currency risk and foreign exchange exposure related to our global operations.

A significant portion of our global transactions is conducted in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar. While we sometimes employ financial instruments to hedge some of our transactional foreign exchange exposure, developing an effective and economical foreign currency risk strategy is complex and expensive and no strategy can completely insulate us from those exposures. Exchange rates can be volatile and could adversely affect our financial results and comparability of results from period to period.

We use important intellectual property in our business. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property or if a third party makes assertions against us or our customers relating to intellectual property rights, our business could be adversely affected.

We own important intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, and are involved in numerous licensing arrangements. Our intellectual property plays an important role in maintaining our competitive position in many of the markets that we serve.

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We cannot guarantee, however, that we will be able to secure all desired protection, nor that the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property will be adequate, to prevent infringement of our rights or misappropriation or theft of our technology, trade secrets or know-how. For example, effective patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection may be unavailable or limited in some of the countries in which we operate. In addition, while we generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees and third parties to protect our trade secrets, know-how, business strategy and other proprietary information, such confidentiality agreements could be breached or otherwise may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets and know-how related to the design, manufacture or operation of our products. If it became necessary for us to resort to litigation to protect our intellectual property rights, any proceedings could be burdensome and costly, and we may not prevail. Further, adequate remedies may not be available in the event of an unauthorized use or disclosure of our trade secrets and manufacturing expertise. Finally, for those products in our portfolio that rely on patent protection, once a patent has expired, the product is generally open to competition. Products under patent protection usually generate significantly higher revenues than those not protected by patents. If we fail to successfully enforce our intellectual property rights, our competitive position could suffer, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

In addition, our competitors may develop technologies that are similar or superior to our proprietary technologies or design around the patents we own or license. Further, as we expand our operations in jurisdictions where the protection of intellectual property rights is less robust, such as China, the risk of others duplicating our proprietary technologies increases, despite efforts we undertake to protect them. Foreign governments may adopt regulations, and foreign governments or courts may render decisions, requiring compulsory licensing of intellectual property rights, or foreign governments may require products to meet standards that serve to favor local companies or provide reduced protection relative to other countries.

A significant product liability lawsuit, warranty claim or product recall involving us or one of our major customers, or an investigation regarding vehicle safety generally, could materially and adversely affect our financial performance.

In the event that our products fail to perform as expected, whether allegedly due to our fault or that of one of our suppliers, and such failure results in, or is alleged to result in, bodily injury and/or property damage or other losses, we may be subject to product liability lawsuits and other claims, and we have been in the past and may again be required or requested by our customers or regulators to participate in a recall or other corrective action involving such products. We also are a party to agreements with certain of our customers, whereby these customers may pursue claims against us for contribution of all or a portion of the amounts sought in connection with product liability and warranty claims. We carry insurance for certain product liability claims, and have utilized such insurance periodically.  However, such coverage may be limited for future claims. In addition, we may not be successful in recovering amounts from third parties, including suppliers, in connection with these claims. These types of claims could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, operating results and cash flows.

We are involved from time to time in various legal and regulatory proceedings and claims, which could adversely affect our financial performance.

We are involved in various legal and regulatory proceedings and claims that, from time to time, are significant. These are typically claims that arise in the normal course of business including, without limitation, commercial or contractual disputes, including disputes with our customers, suppliers or competitors, intellectual property matters, personal injury claims, environmental matters, tax matters and employment matters. Such legal and regulatory proceedings could result in an adverse outcome for the Company that would adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our success depends in part on retaining key personnel and effective succession planning.

Our success will depend to a large extent upon the continued contributions of key personnel. The loss of the services of one or more of our executive officers could adversely affect our business. Effective succession planning is also important to our long-term success. Failure to ensure effective transfer of knowledge and smooth transitions involving key employees could hinder our strategic planning and execution. Further, our success will depend, in part, upon our ability to recruit and retain qualified engineering and other technical and marketing personnel. There is significant competition for technologically qualified personnel in our business and we may not be successful in recruiting or retaining sufficient qualified personnel.

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We are required to comply with environmental laws and regulations that could cause us to incur significant costs.

Our manufacturing facilities are subject to numerous laws and regulations designed to protect the environment, and we expect that additional requirements with respect to environmental matters will be imposed on us in the future. We may also assume, or be deemed to assume, significant environmental liabilities in acquisitions. Environmental liability may be imposed without regard to fault, and under certain circumstances, can be joint and several, resulting in one party being held responsible for the entire obligation. Material future expenditures may be necessary if compliance standards change or material unknown conditions that require remediation are discovered. No assurance can be given that all environmental liabilities have been identified or that no prior owner or operator of our properties or former properties has created an environmental condition not known to us.  Environmental laws could also restrict our ability to expand our facilities or could require us to acquire costly equipment or to incur other significant expenses in connection with our business. Violations of these requirements could result in fines or sanctions, obligations to investigate or remediate contamination, third party property damage or personal injury claims due to the migration of contaminants off-site, or modification or revocation of our operating permits, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Additionally, proposed and existing efforts to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions could directly or indirectly affect our costs of energy, materials, manufacturing, distribution, packaging and other operating costs, which could impact our business and financial results.

We may be unable to realize the expected benefits of our restructuring actions, which could adversely affect our profitability and operations.

We have undertaken significant restructuring activities in recent years that remain ongoing, and may take future restructuring actions to realign and resize our production capacity and cost structure, lower our cost base, improve our financial performance and cash flow generation, and create a simplified organization best positioned to deliver on our key financial and operational priorities. Charges related to these actions or any further restructuring actions may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. We cannot ensure that any current or future restructuring will be completed as planned, on a timely basis or at all, will be on budget, or achieve the desired results.

Our existing indebtedness and the inability to access capital markets could restrict our business activities or our ability to execute our strategic objectives or adversely affect our financial performance.

As of December 31, 2019, our total consolidated indebtedness was $80.6 million. We may also incur additional indebtedness in the future. This significant amount of debt could have important, adverse consequences to us and our investors, including:

Our debt agreements contain certain restrictive covenants and customary events of default. These restrictive covenants limit our ability to take certain actions, such as, among other things: incur additional debt, make certain payments or distributions (including for the repurchase or redemption of our shares), engage in mergers or consolidations, make certain dispositions and transfers of assets, enter into transactions with affiliates and guarantee indebtedness. While not unusual for financings of the type that we have, the restrictions in our credit facilities may prevent us from taking actions that we believe would be in the best interest of our business and may make it difficult for us to execute our business plans, take advantage of business opportunities, or react to changing industry conditions.

To the extent that we incur additional indebtedness, the risks described above could increase. In addition, our actual cash requirements in the future may be greater than expected. Our cash flow from operations may not be sufficient to service our outstanding debt or to repay the outstanding debt as it becomes due, and we may not be able to borrow money, sell assets or otherwise raise funds on acceptable terms, or at all, to service or refinance our debt.

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If an event of default would occur under our existing debt agreements or any additional indebtedness, our lenders could declare all amounts outstanding to be immediately due and payable, which may cause cross-defaults under our other debt obligations. If our lenders accelerate the maturity of our indebtedness, we may not have sufficient capital available at that time to pay the amounts due to all lenders on a timely basis, and there is no guarantee that we would be able to repay, refinance, or restructure the payments on such debt. Further, under our existing credit facilities, the lenders would have the right to foreclose on certain of our assets, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

An adverse change in the interest rates for our borrowings could adversely affect our financial condition

Our current outstanding variable rate indebtedness uses LIBOR as a benchmark for establishing the interest rate. LIBOR is the subject of recent national, international and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. These reforms may cause LIBOR to disappear entirely after 2021 or to perform differently than in the past. We expect that reasonable alternatives to LIBOR will be created and implemented prior to the 2021 target date. Fallback provisions are being written into LIBOR-based contracts to attempt to reduce the risk of sudden and unpredictable increases in the cost of variable rate indebtedness. However, we cannot predict the consequences and timing of these developments.

Additionally, in the future, we may need to renegotiate our existing indebtedness or incur other indebtedness, and the phase-out of LIBOR may negatively impact the terms of such indebtedness. In addition, the overall financial market may be disrupted as a result of the phase-out or replacement of LIBOR, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, and liquidity.

Security breaches and other disruptions to our information technology networks and systems, including a disruption related to cybersecurity, could interfere with our operations and could compromise the confidentiality of our proprietary information or personal information.

We rely upon information technology networks and systems, some of which are managed or hosted by third-parties, to process, transmit and store electronic information, and to manage or support a variety of business processes and activities, including electronic communications among our locations around the world and between Company personnel and our customers and suppliers, supply chain management, manufacturing, and invoicing and collection of payments. We use these information technology network and systems to process financial information and results of operations for internal reporting purposes and to comply with regulatory financial reporting and legal and tax requirements. Additionally, we collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, proprietary business information, the proprietary business information of our customers and suppliers, as well as personally identifiable information of our employees, customers and suppliers, in data centers, on information technology networks and systems, some of which are operated by third parties and third-party locations. The secure operation of these data centers, information technology networks, and systems and the processing, maintenance, confidentiality, integrity and availability of this information, is critical to our business operations and strategy.

The Company maintains an information risk management program which is supervised by information technology management and reviewed by a cross-functional committee. As part of this program, reports that include analysis of emerging risks as well as the Company’s plans and strategies to address them are regularly prepared and presented to senior management and the Board of Directors. Despite security measures, such as disaster recovery and business continuity plans, including those measures related to cybersecurity, these data centers, our information technology networks and systems may be vulnerable to damage, corruption, disruptions or shutdowns due to attacks by hackers or breaches due to errors or malfeasance by employees, contractors and others who have access to our networks and systems, or other disruptions during the process of upgrading or replacing computer software or hardware, power outages, computer viruses, telecommunication or utility failures, geopolitical events, or natural disasters or other catastrophic events.

Cyber threats are constantly evolving, thereby increasing the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them. The occurrence of any of the aforementioned events, many of which are outside our control, could compromise our systems or networks and the information stored there, which may include confidential or proprietary information or personal information of third parties, could be accessed, publicly disclosed, compromised, corrupted, lost or stolen. Any such access, disclosure or other loss or corruption of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability or regulatory penalties under laws protecting the privacy of personal information, disrupt operations, cause a loss of confidence in our reputation, goodwill, products and services, reduce the competitive advantage we expect to derive from our investment in advanced technologies and adversely affect our financial condition,

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results of operations, and cash flows. We maintain cyber risk insurance, but this insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of our losses from any future breaches of our systems.

We may face particular privacy, data security and data protection risks.

Legislators and/or regulators in countries in which we operate are increasingly adopting or revising privacy, information security and data protection laws. In particular, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which became effective on May 25, 2018, imposes additional obligations and risk upon our business and which increases substantially the penalties to which we could be subject in the event of any non-compliance. The GDPR and other similar laws and regulations, including the new California Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”) and other similar state laws recently or soon to be enacted, as well as any associated inquiries or investigations or any other government actions, may be costly to comply with, result in negative publicity, increase our operating costs, require significant management time and attention, and subject us to remedies that may harm our business, including fines or demands or orders that we modify or cease existing business practices. Furthermore, the CCPA went into effect on January 1, 2020 and many of its requirements have not yet been interpreted by courts, and best practices are still being developed by the industry, all of which increase the risk of compliance failure and related adverse impacts.

Any failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures may affect our ability to accurately report our financial results, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, fail to prevent fraud and adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we must maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, which requires significant resources and management oversight. Effectiveness of such controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, effectively prevent fraud and to operate successfully as a public company.

Our management determined we had a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018, which we determined was remediated as of September 30, 2019. Any future failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures, or timely effect any necessary improvement of such controls, could harm our results of operations or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, which could subject us to adverse regulatory consequences. Ineffectiveness of such controls also could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.

We are currently restricted in our ability to make dividend payments on our Common Stock. Furthermore, we do not anticipate paying dividends on our Common Stock in the near future.

Our bank credit facilities generally restrict our ability to pay cash of dividends on our Common Stock so long as such facilities are outstanding. We have never paid any cash dividends on our Common Stock and do not anticipate paying dividends in the near future.

The price of our Common Stock may fluctuate significantly.

The price of our Common Stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market has experienced substantial price volatility in the past and may continue to do so in the future. Additionally, the Company, the automotive industry and the stock market as a whole have experienced significant stock price and volume fluctuations that have affected stock prices in ways that may have been unrelated to these companies’ operating performance.  Price volatility over a given period may cause the average price at which the Company repurchases its stock to exceed the stock’s price at a given point in time. If the Company fails to meet expectations related to future growth, profitability, share repurchases or other market expectations, its stock price may decline significantly, which could have a material adverse impact on investor confidence and employee retention.

None.

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The following table presents the Company’s significant properties as of December 31, 2019:

We are subject to litigation from time to time in the ordinary course of our business, however there is no current material pending litigation to which we are a party and no material legal proceedings were terminated, settled or otherwise resolved during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Market Information

Our Common Stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “THRM.”

Holders

As of February 14, 2020, our Common Stock was held by 40 shareholders of record. A substantially greater number of holders are beneficial owners whose shares of record are held by banks, brokers and other nominees.

Dividends

We have not paid any Common Stock cash dividends since formation and we do not expect to pay any in the foreseeable future. The payment of future dividends is within the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon business conditions, our earnings and financial condition and other factors.  Currently, our bank credit facilities limit payment of dividends on our Common Stock.

Stock Repurchase Program

In December 2016, the Board of Directors authorized a three-year, $100 million stock repurchase program. In June 2018, our Board of Directors authorized an increase in the stock repurchase plan to $300 million and extended the stock repurchase plan until December 2020.

Under the program, we may repurchase, from time to time, our common stock in amounts and at prices as we deem appropriate, taking into account market conditions, applicable legal requirements, debt covenants and other considerations. The number of shares repurchased and the time of the repurchases under the stock repurchase program will be determined by our management. Repurchases may be made on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. Repurchases may also be made under the Exchange Act Rule 10b5-1 plan, which would permit shares to be repurchased when we might otherwise be precluded from doing so under securities laws. The authorization of this stock repurchase program does not require we repurchase any specific dollar value or number of shares and may be modified, extended or terminated by our Board of Directors at any time.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities During Fourth Quarter 2019

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Performance Graph

The following graph reflects the comparative changes in the value from December 31, 2014 through December 31, 2019, assuming an initial investment of $100 and the reinvestment of dividends, if any, in (1) our Common Stock, (2) the NASDAQ Composite index, (3) the Russell 2000 Index and (4) the Dow Jones U.S. Auto & Parts Index. Historical performance may not be indicative of future shareholder returns.

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The following table sets forth selected financial data and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto, as well as Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in this Report.

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The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified in its entirety by, our consolidated financial statements (and notes related thereto) and other more detailed financial information appearing elsewhere in this Report. Further, you should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Report for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis. See also “Forward-Looking Statements” in Item 1 of this Report.

Overview

Gentherm Incorporated is a global developer and marketer of innovative thermal management technologies for a broad range of heating and cooling and temperature control applications. Our products provide solutions for automotive passenger climate comfort and convenience, battery thermal management and cell connecting systems, as well as patient temperature management within the health care industry. Our automotive products can be found on the vehicles of nearly all major automotive manufacturers operating in North America, Europe and Asia. We operate in locations aligned with our major customers’ product strategies to provide locally enhanced design, integration and production capabilities. The Company is also developing a number of new technologies and products that will help enable improvements to existing products and to create new product applications for existing and new markets.

We believe that innovation is an important element to gaining market acceptance of our products and strengthening our market position. During 2019, we secured an estimated $1.5 billion of automotive new business awards, which represents the estimated future lifetime product revenues for all automotive customers. This amount does not represent firm customer orders. We report our new business awards primarily based on communication of award from our customers using price and volume projections available at the time of award, and we have not updated such previously communicated estimates as of December 31, 2019 or the date hereof. Our estimates of automotive new business awards are forward-looking statements and may not actually be achieved. See the risk factor “We may not realize sales represented by awarded business” in Item 1A “Risk Factors” of Part I of this report.

Recent Trends and Economic Conditions

Our sales are driven by the number of vehicles produced by the automotive manufacturers, which is ultimately dependent on consumer demand for automotive vehicles, and our content per vehicle.  New vehicle demand is driven by macro-economic and other factors, such as interest rates, manufacturer and dealer sales incentives, fuel prices, consumer confidence, employment levels, income growth trends and government and tax incentives.  According to the forecasting firm IHS Markit, global light vehicle production was 88.9 million units in 2019, down from 94.2 million units in 2018, a decline of 5.6%. Actual light vehicle production volumes in North America for 2019 were 16.3 million units compared to 17.0 million units in 2018, a decrease of 4.0%, and light vehicle production volumes in Europe were 21.1 million units for 2019 compared to 22.0 million units in 2018, a decrease of 4.2%. Actual light vehicle production volumes in Japan/Korea remained relatively stable with 13.1 million units in 2019 compared to 13.2 million units in 2018, a decrease of 0.8%.  The largest light vehicle production volume decline was in China, with 24.7 million units in 2019 compared to 26.9 million units in 2018, a decrease of 8.2%.

IHS Markit forecasted light vehicle production volumes for 2020 is 87.2 million units, a decline of 1.9% from 2019 primarily related to the recent coronavirus outbreak originating from China, and the significant impact to manufacturing and consumption in the broader China market, as well as Japan and South Korea.  The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in extended shutdown of certain businesses in the region and disruptions in the supply chain, which could result in further social, economic and labor instability.  

Economic volatility or weakness in North America, Europe or Asia, could result in a significant reduction in automotive sales and production by our customers, which would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. There is also potential that geopolitical factors could adversely impact the U.S. and other economies, and specifically the automotive sector. While our diversified automotive OEM customer base and geographic revenue base, along with our flexible cost structure, have well positioned us to withstand the impact of industry downturns and benefit from industry upturns, shifts in the mix of global automotive production to higher cost regions or to vehicles with less content could adversely impact our profitability.

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Volatility, weakness or slow growth in markets for hybrid electric vehicles could result in less growth in automotive sales and production by our customers than planned, which would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Fit-for-Growth

On June 25, 2018, Gentherm announced a strategic plan intended to improve business performance and position the Company to deliver above market growth and improved profitability to its shareholders. An important element of the strategy was the Fit-for-Growth initiative that focused on purchasing excellence, rationalization of research and development activities, reducing selling, general and administrative expense, minimization or elimination of investments in non-core areas and developing a manufacturing footprint commensurate with the new plan.

During 2018, the Company initiated this strategy through the sale of its battery management systems division located in Irvine, California and the site consolidation of its advanced research and development operations which resulted in vacating two leased facilities in Azusa, California. Further, the Company exited, several product categories including furniture, aviation, battery management electronics, industrial battery packs, automotive thermoelectric generators and other non-core electronics. Additionally, the Company undertook restructuring actions to reduce global overhead costs to improve selling, general and administrative expense.

During 2019, the Company completed its plan to eliminate non-core areas of investment through the divestitures of its environmental test equipment business, Cincinnati Sub-Zero industrial chamber business (“CSZ-IC”) and its remote power generation systems business, Gentherm Global Power Technologies (“GPT”). In addition, we launched a plan to optimize our manufacturing footprint and took additional actions to reduce costs through purchasing excellence and additional restructuring activities focused on reductions of selling, general and administrative expense.

The Company continues to execute the Fit-for-Growth strategy in an effort deliver market growth and improve profitability to its shareholders.

Divestitures

Divestiture of CSZ-IC

On February 1, 2019, the Company completed the divestiture of CSZ-IC and the former Cincinnati Sub-Zero headquarters facility to Weiss Technik North America, Inc. for total cash proceeds of $47.5 million, including $2.5 million of cash proceeds placed into an escrow account for a period of up to one year as partial security for the Company’s obligations under the sale agreement. In connection with the sale, Gentherm entered into an operating lease agreement for a portion of the office and manufacturing building space purchased by Weiss Technik North America, Inc. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company recognized a $4.3 million gain on sale, which is classified as Asset impairments and net loss on divestitures within the consolidated statements of income.

Divestiture of GPT

On October 1, 2019, the Company completed the divesture of GPT for a nominal amount. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company recognized asset impairments and loss on sale totaling $27.1 million, consisting of $16.8 million of impairment on assets held for sale, $4.5 million related to impairment of an equity investment that met held for sale criteria during 2019 and $5.8 million of loss on sale, which includes $4.0 million related to the release of previously deferred foreign currency translation losses recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss and $1.5 million related to a loan to the buyer that was considered uncollectible. These impairment charges and loss on sale are classified as Asset impairments and net loss on divestitures within the consolidated statements of income.

Acquisitions

Acquisition of Stihler Electronic GmbH (“Stihler”)

On April 1, 2019, Gentherm acquired Stihler, a leading developer and manufacturer of patient and blood temperature management systems, for a purchase price of $15.5 million, net of cash acquired and including $0.7 million of contingent consideration to be paid upon achievement of a milestone that must be completed by September 2020. In addition, the purchase agreement includes a contingent payment of $0.7 million to be paid if the selling shareholder remains employed by Stihler through

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December 2020, which will be recorded as a component of selling, general and administrative expenses ratably over the service period. The results of operations of Stihler are reported within the Company’s Industrial segment from the date of acquisition.

Acquisition of Etratech

On November 1, 2017, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets and assumed substantially all of the operating liabilities of Etratech Inc., an Ontario corporation and all of the outstanding shares of Etratech Hong Kong, an entity organized under the laws of Hong Kong, in an all-cash transaction for a purchase price of $65.0 million, net of cash acquired of $0.7 million. Etratech manufactures advanced electronic controls and control systems for the automotive, RV and marine, security, medical and other industries. The results of operations of Etratech are reported within the Company’s Automotive segment from the date of acquisition.

Manufacturing Footprint Rationalization

On September 23, 2019, the Company committed to a restructuring plan to improve the Company’s manufacturing productivity and rationalize its footprint. Under this plan, the Company will relocate and consolidate certain existing automotive manufacturing and, as a result, certain other activities, overall reducing the number of plants by two. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company recognized expense of $4.9 million for employee separation costs that will be paid pursuant to the terms of statutory requirements of the affected locations. Additionally, the Company recognized $2.1 million of accelerated depreciation and fixed asset impairment.

The Company expects to incur total costs of between $20.0 million and $24.0 million, of which between $17.0 million and $21.0 million are expected to be cash expenditures. The total expected costs include employee separation costs of between $9.0 million and $11.0 million, capital expenditures of between $4.5 million and $5.5 million and non-cash expenses for accelerated depreciation and impairment of fixed assets of $3.0 million. The Company also expects to incur other transition costs including recruiting, relocation, and machinery and equipment move and set up costs of between $3.5 million and $4.5 million. The actions under this plan are expected to be substantially completed by the end of 2021. The actual timing, costs and savings of the Plan may differ materially from the Company’s current expectations and estimates.

See Note 5 to our consolidated financial statements for information about our restructuring activities.

Stock Repurchase Program

In December 2016, the Board of Directors authorized a three-year, $100.0 million stock repurchase program. In June 2018, our Board of Directors authorized an increase in the stock repurchase plan to $300.0 million and extended the stock repurchase plan until December 2020.  In 2019, we repurchased approximately $63.3 million of shares and have a remaining repurchase authorization of approximately $83.3 million.

For further information related to our stock repurchase program, see Item 5, "Market for the Company’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities," and Note 16, "Equity" to the consolidated financial statements included in this Report.

Reportable Segments

The Company has two reportable segments for financial reporting purposes: Automotive and Industrial.  See Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements for a description of our reportable segments as well as their proportional contribution to the Company’s reported product revenues and operating income.  The financial information used by our chief operating decision maker to assess operating performance and allocate resources is based on these reportable segments.

Results of Operations Year Ended December 31, 2019 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2018

This section discusses our consolidated results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 versus 2018. A detailed discussion of our consolidated results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017 can be found under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation” in Part II of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, which was filed with the SEC on February 26, 2019.

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The results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, in thousands, were as follows:

Product revenues by product category, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were as follows:

Product Revenues

Below is a summary of our product revenues, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Product revenues for the year ended December 31, 2019 decreased 7.3% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease in product revenues is due to unfavorable volumes in our Automotive segment, including adverse impacts of $12.4 million resulting from the General Motors labor strike. Product revenues were also negatively impacted by unfavorable foreign currency impacts, primarily related to the Euro, Korean Won and Chinese Renminbi. The decrease in product revenues included in Variance Due To Pricing/Other above is primarily attributable to the divestitures of CSZ-IC on February 1, 2019 and GPT on October 1, 2019, the acquisition of Stihler on April 1, 2019, as well as decreases in customer pricing.

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Cost of Sales

Below is a summary of our cost of sales and gross margin, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2019 decreased 8.1% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease in cost of sales is due to volumes decreases in our Automotive segment, operational performance improvements, and favorable foreign currency impacts, primarily attributable to the Euro, Chinese Renminbi and Mexican Peso. The operational performance improvements are primarily attributable to decreases in headcount, overtime, expedited freight and material costs. The decrease in cost of sales is also due to the following items included in Variance Due To Other above:

Net Research and Development Expenses

Below is a summary of our net research and development expenses, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Net research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2019 decreased 9.3% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease in net research and development expenses is primarily related to the Company’s cost reduction initiatives that were launched in the second half of 2018. These initiatives were focused on the minimization or elimination of investments in non-core areas.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Below is a summary of our selling, general and administrative expenses, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2019 decreased 13.6% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses is primarily related to the impacts of divested businesses (CSZ-IC and GPT) and the Company’s cost reduction initiatives that were launched in the second half of 2018.

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Restructuring Expenses

Below is a summary of our restructuring expenses, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Restructuring expenses in 2019 primarily relate to the Manufacturing Footprint Rationalization restructuring program and other discrete restructuring activities focused on the rotation of our manufacturing footprint to lower cost locations and the reduction of global overhead expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company recognized expenses of $8.1 million for employee separation costs, $2.5 million of accelerated depreciation and asset impairment charges and $2.4 million of other related costs.

Restructuring expenses in 2018 primarily relate to restructuring activities focused on reduction of global overhead costs and the minimization or elimination of investments in non-core areas of our business. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recognized expenses of $8.4 million for employee separation costs, $2.5 million of accelerated depreciation and asset impairment charges and $3.8 million of other related costs.

See Note 5, "Restructuring" of the consolidated financial statements included in this Report for additional information.

Interest Expense

Below is a summary of our interest expense, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

See Note 13, "Debt" of the consolidated financial statements included in this Report for additional information.

Foreign Currency Gain

Below is a summary of our foreign currency gain, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Foreign currency gain for the year ended December 31, 2019, included net realized foreign currency gain of $56 thousand and unrealized net foreign currency gain of $2.3 million.

Foreign currency gain for the year ended December 31, 2018, included net realized foreign currency gain of $1.2 million and unrealized net foreign currency loss of $0.6 million.

Asset Impairments and Net Loss on Divestitures

Below is a summary of our asset impairment and net loss on divestitures, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

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Asset impairments and net loss on divestitures for the year ended December 31, 2019 includes the following:

Asset impairments and net loss on divestitures for the year ended December 31, 2018 includes the following:

Other Income

Below is a summary of our other income, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

The decrease in other income is primarily due to a reduction of lower miscellaneous income.

Income Tax Expense

Below is a summary of our income tax expense, in thousands, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Income tax expense was $21.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, on earnings before income tax of $59.2 million, representing an effective tax rate of 36.6%. The pre-tax earnings amount included the non-deductible impairment loss of $27.1 million. Adjusted for the impairment loss, the effective tax rate was 25.1% for 2019.  The effective tax rate differed from the U.S. Federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to the international provisions of the U.S. tax reform, such as global intangible low-tax income (“GILTI”), enacted in December 2017, partly offset by certain intercompany transactions which disproportionately benefited lower tax rate jurisdictions.

Income tax expense was $16.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, on earnings before income tax of $58.1 million, representing an effective tax rate of 27.9%. The pre-tax earnings amount included the non-deductible impairment loss of $11.5 million.  Adjusted for the impairment loss, the effective tax rate was 23.3% for 2018.  The effective tax rate differed from the U.S. Federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to the international provisions of the U.S. tax reform, such as global intangible low-tax income (“GILTI”), enacted in December 2017, partly offset by certain intercompany transactions which disproportionately benefited lower tax rate jurisdictions.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash and Cash Flows

The Company has funded its financial needs primarily through cash flows from operating activities and equity and debt financings.  Our ongoing strategic plan sets forth a capital allocation strategy that includes a targeted debt-to-earnings leverage ratio and allows for some of our cash flow to be paid back to investors through Common Stock repurchases.  On June 25, 2018, our Board of Directors increased the Company’s stock repurchase authorization to $300.0 million, of which $83.3 million of availability remained as of December 31, 2019.  This authorization expires on December 16, 2020. Based on its current operating plan, management believes cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2019, together with cash flows from operating activities, and borrowing available under our Amended Credit Agreement, are sufficient to meet operating and capital expenditure needs, and to service debt, for at least the next 12 months. However, if cash flows from operations decline, we may need to obtain alternative sources of capital and reduce or delay capital expenditures, acquisitions and investments, all of which could impede the implementation of our business strategy and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.  In addition, it is likely that we will need to complete one or more equity or debt financings if we consummate any significant acquisition or several smaller acquisitions.  There can be no assurance that such capital will be available at all or on reasonable terms, which could adversely affect our future operations and business strategy.  

The following table represents our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, in thousands:

 Cash Flows From Operating Activities

We manage our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments to fund operating requirements and preserve liquidity to take advantage of future business opportunities. The following table compares the cash flows from operating activities earned during 2019 with those earned in 2018, in thousands:

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The following table highlights significant differences between the operating cash flows for the periods ending December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively:

Net cash provided by operating activities before changes in operating assets and liabilities decreased during 2019 due to lower revenues partially offset by higher cash based operating expenses and impairment losses. Additionally, working capital, net provided favorable cash flows related to accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and other assets and accrued liabilities, and unfavorable amounts related to inventory and accounts payable.

Working Capital

The following table illustrates changes in working capital during 2019, in thousands:

The following table highlights significant transactions that contributed to the increase in cash experienced during the year ended December 31, 2019, in thousands:

The changes in current assets and liabilities reflects the classification of GPT and CSZ-IC (disposal group) as held for sale during 2018.  All assets and liabilities of the disposal group were classified as held for sale within current assets and current liabilities, respectively, on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet for the year ended December 31, 2018.  See Note 4 to our consolidated financial statement for additional information about the assets and liabilities classified as held for sale.

Cash Flows From Investing Activities

Cash provided by investing activities was $5.8 million during 2019, reflecting cash proceeds of $47.5 million related to the sale of CSZ-IC, partially offset by the acquisition of Stihler for $14.8 million and purchases of property and equipment related to the expansion of production capacity totaling $23.7 million.

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Cash Flows From Financing Activities

Cash used in financing activities was $108.6 million during 2019, reflecting payments of principal on the U.S. Revolving Note, the DEG China Loan and the DEG Vietnam Loan totaling $97.0 million in aggregate, partially offset by additional borrowings on the U.S. Revolving Note totaling $37.8 million. Undrawn borrowing capacity under the U.S. Revolving Note was $403.4 million as of December 31, 2019.  Cash was also paid during 2019 to repurchase Common Stock totaling $63.3 million, and for cancellations of restricted stock awards totaling $1.4 million.

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Debt

Amended Credit Agreement

As of December 31, 2018, the Company, together with certain direct and indirect subsidiaries, had a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) which included a revolving credit note (“U.S. Revolving Note”) with a maximum borrowing capacity of $350.0 million.

On June 27, 2019, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Amended Credit Agreement”) with a consortium of lenders and Bank of America, N.A. as administrative agent. The Amended Credit Agreement amended and restated in its entirety the Credit Agreement. The outstanding principal and interest of the U.S. Revolving Note under the Credit Agreement continued and constitute obligations under the Amended Credit Agreement.

The Amended Credit Agreement increased the U.S. Revolving Note from $350.0 million to $475.0 million and extended the maturity from March 17, 2021 to June 27, 2024. Subject to specified conditions, the Company can increase the U.S. Revolving Note or incur secured term loans in an aggregate amount of $175.0 million. The Amended Credit Agreement also provides $15.0 million availability for the issuance of letters of credit and a maximum of $40.0 million for swing line borrowing.  Any amount of the facility utilized for letters of credit or swing line loans outstanding will reduce the amount available under the Amended Credit Agreement.  The Company had $0 and $0.5 million of outstanding letters of credit issued under the Amended Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The U.S. borrowers and guarantors participating in the Amended Credit Agreement have entered into a related amended and restated pledge and security agreement.  The amended and restated pledge and security agreement grants a security interest to the lenders in substantially all of the personal property of the Company and its U.S. subsidiaries designated as borrowers to secure their respective obligations under the Amended Credit Agreement, including the stock and membership interests of specified subsidiaries (limited to 66% of the stock in the case of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries). In addition to the security obligations, all obligations under the Amended Credit Agreement are unconditionally guaranteed by certain of the Company’s subsidiaries. The Amended Credit Agreement restricts, among other things, the amount of dividend payments the Company can make to shareholders.

The Amended Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants that will prohibit or limit the ability of the Borrowers and any material subsidiary to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, create liens, pay dividends, make certain types of investments (including acquisitions), enter into certain types of transactions with affiliates, prepay other indebtedness, sell assets, merge with other companies or enter into certain other transactions outside the ordinary course of business requires the Company and its subsidiaries to comply with customary affirmative and negative covenants, and contain customary events of default. These restrictions on the Company’s material subsidiaries have not had and are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s ability to meet its cash obligations.  The Amended Credit Agreement also requires the Company to maintain a minimum Consolidated Interest Coverage Ratio and Consolidated Leverage Ratio, as defined in the agreement.

Under the Amended Credit Agreement, U.S. Dollar denominated loans bear interest at either a base rate (“Base Rate Loans”) or Eurocurrency rate (“Eurocurrency Rate Loans”), plus a margin (“Applicable Rate”). The rate for Base Rate Loans is equal to the highest of the Federal Funds Rate (1.55% at December 31, 2019) plus 0.50%, Bank of America’s prime rate (4.75% at December 31, 2019), or the Eurocurrency rate plus 1.00%. The rate for Eurocurrency Rate Loans denominated in U.S. Dollars is equal to the London Interbank Offered Rate (1.76% at December 31, 2019). All loans denominated in a currency other than the U.S. Dollar must be Eurocurrency Rate Loans. Interest is payable at least quarterly.

The Applicable Rate varies based on the Consolidated Leverage Ratio reported by the Company. As long as the Company is not in default of the terms and conditions of the Amended Credit Agreement, the lowest and highest possible Applicable Rate is 1.25% and 2.25%, respectively, for Eurocurrency Rate Loans and 0.25% and 1.25%, respectively, for Base Rate Loans.

DEG Vietnam Loan

The Company also has a fixed interest rate loan with the German Investment Corporation (“DEG”), a subsidiary of KfW Banking Group, a Germany government-owned development bank.  The fixed interest rate senior loan agreement with DEG was used to finance the construction and set up of the Vietnam production facility (“DEG Vietnam Loan”).  The DEG Vietnam Loan is subject to semi-annual principal payments that began November 2017 and will end May 2023.  Under the terms of the DEG Vietnam Loan, the Company must maintain a minimum Equity Ratio and Enhanced Equity Ratio, as defined by the DEG Vietnam Loan agreement, based on the financial statements of Gentherm’s wholly owned subsidiary, Gentherm Vietnam Co. Ltd.

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DEG China Loan

The Company had a second DEG loan, which was used to fund capital investments in China (the “DEG China Loan”).  The DEG China Loan was subject to semi-annual principal payments that began March 2015 and ended in September 2019. During the third quarter of 2019, the DEG China Loan was paid in full.

The following table summarizes the Company’s debt at December 31, 2019 (dollars in thousands).

 As of December 31, 2019, we were in compliance with all terms as outlined in the Amended Credit Agreement and DEG Vietnam Loan. Undrawn borrowing capacity under the U.S. Revolving Note was $403.4 million as of December 31, 2019.

Critical Accounting Policies

The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosures at the date of our financial statements. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. These estimates and assumptions include, but are not limited to:

Revenue Recognition

Revenue is recognized from agreements containing enforceable rights and obligations, when promised goods are delivered or services are completed. Taxes assessed by a governmental authority that are both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction, that are collected by the Company from a customer, are excluded from revenue. Shipping and handling fees billed to customers are included in net sales, while costs of shipping and handling are included in cost of sale.

Automotive Revenues

The Company provides production parts to its customers under long-term supply agreements (“LTAs”). The duration of an LTA is generally consistent with the life cycle of a vehicle, however, an LTA does not reach the level of a performance obligation until Gentherm receives either a purchase order and/or a materials release from the customer for a specific number of parts at a specified price, at which point an enforceable contract exists. Revenue is recognized when control of the parts has transferred to the customer

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according to the terms of the contract, which typically occurs when the parts are shipped or delivered to the customer’s premises. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for transferring parts.

Certain LTAs provide for annual price reductions over the production life of the vehicle. Agreements that are determined to provide customers with purchase option discounts that would not be received without entering into the contract are considered to contain a material right (for example, a discount given to a customer that is incremental to the range of discounts typically given to that class of customer). The material right represents a purchase option that provides the customer with the ability to purchase additional production parts at a set price in the future and is accounted for as a separate performance obligation. Under these circumstances, each transfer of production parts under the LTA requires allocation of the purchase price to the production part and the purchase option. As a practical alternative to estimating the standalone selling price of an option, the Company allocates transaction price to the purchase option by reference to the production part volumes expected to be ordered and the consideration expected to be received over the life of the vehicle program.

The production part’s relative standalone selling price observed under the LTA is subtracted from the total amount of consideration expected to be received in exchange for transferring of parts under the current contract and the difference is allocated to the purchase option. Revenue from options containing a material right is recognized when the amounts billed by the customer for production parts transferred, under the LTA, is less than the standalone selling price of those production parts.

Medical Revenues

Revenues from our patient temperature management business unit are generated from the sale of products and equipment. Our medical products and equipment focus on body and blood temperature management. The Company sells medical products and equipment primarily through distributor and group purchasing organization agreements. These agreements allow member participants to the distributor or group purchasing organization to make purchases at discounted prices negotiated by the distributor or group purchasing organization. A rebate is incurred at the point in time a member participant purchases product covered under these types of agreements. Rebates are accounted for as variable consideration, using an expected value, probability weighted approach, based on the level of sales to the distributor and the time lag between the initial sale and the rebate claim in determining the transaction price of a contract. Revenue is recognized at the point in time the medical products or equipment is transferred to the customer.

GPT and CSZ-IC Revenues

Revenues from our divested businesses, GPT and CSZ-IC, were generated from the sale of products and services. GPT and CSZ-IC customers commonly entered into multiple-element agreements for the purchase of products and services. Installation services, for example, were separate and distinct performance obligations that were often included in contracts to purchase customized environmental test chambers. Depending on the application, delivery of an environmental test chamber or remote power generation system to the customer’s place of business could range from two weeks to nine months from commencement of the contract. Installation services, while reliant on the specifications and timing from the customer, rarely remained incomplete more than two months after delivery.

Revenues allocated to environmental test chambers or remote power systems were based on the stand-alone selling price of the products themselves. Judgement was used to determine the degree to which early pay discounts and other credits were utilized in the calculation of standalone selling price, and only included to the extent it was probable that a significant reversal of any incremental revenue would not occur. Revenues were recognized at the point in time the chamber or power system was shipped to the customer. For contracts that also included a promise for installation, the portion of total transaction price allocated to the installation was recognized as revenue at the point in time the installation is complete.

GPT and CSZ-IC often required milestone payments for contracts to provide environmental test chambers or remote power systems to customers. Milestone payments did not provide the Company with a right to payment for the work completed to date and did not represent the satisfaction of a performance obligation. Milestone payments were deferred and reported within unearned revenue until construction was complete and the unit had been delivered or was installed. If the environmental test chamber contract included a separate promise to provide installation services, any installation-related payments received from the customer were deferred until the point in time the installation was complete.

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Impairments of Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount, the Company then compares the fair value of the reporting unit to the related net book value. If the net book value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is measured and recognized. The fair value of a reporting unit is estimated by analyzing internal inputs (level 3) to calculate forward values and discounting those values to the present value.

Accrued Warranty Costs

The Company accrues warranty obligations for products sold based on management estimates of future failure rates and current claim cost experience, with support from the sales, engineering, quality and legal functions.  While we believe our warranty reserve is adequate and that the judgment applied is appropriate, such estimates could differ materially from what will actually transpire in the future. The warranty policy is reviewed by management annually. Using historical information available to the Company, including claims already filed by customers, the warranty accrual is adjusted quarterly to reflect management’s best estimate of future claims.

Litigation Reserves

We record estimated future costs related to new or ongoing litigation based on input from legal counsel and our best estimate of probable loss. These estimates include costs associated with attorney fees and potential claims and assessments less any amounts we anticipate are recoverable under insurance policies. Final resolution of the litigation contingencies could result in amounts different from current accruals and, therefore, have an impact on our consolidated financial results in future reporting periods.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are stated at the invoiced amount, less allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated amounts not expected to be collected, and do not bear interest. We record an allowance for doubtful accounts once exposure to collection risk of an account receivable is specifically identified. We analyze the length of time an account receivable is outstanding, as well as a customer’s payment history and ability to pay to determine the need to record an allowance for doubtful accounts. We write-off accounts receivable when they become uncollectible.

Inventory Reserves

We recognize a reserve for obsolete and slow-moving inventories based on estimates of future sales and an inventory item’s capacity to be repurposed for a different use. We consider the number of months supply on hand based on current planned requirements, uncommitted future projections and historical usage in estimating the inventory reserve.  Additional provisions are made for supplier claims for obsolete materials, prototype inventory, spare or customer service inventory and, for all periods other than at year-end, estimates for physical inventory adjustments.

Income Taxes

We record income tax expense using the liability method which specifies that deferred tax assets and liabilities be measured each year based on the difference between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities at the applicable enacted tax rates. A valuation allowance is provided for deferred tax assets when management considers it more likely than not that the asset will not be realized. If future annual taxable income were to be significantly less than current and projected levels, there is a risk that certain of our deferred tax assets not already provided for by the valuation allowance would expire prior to utilization.

We recognize the financial statement benefit of a tax position only after determining that the relevant tax authority would more likely than not sustain the position following an audit. For tax positions meeting the more-likely-than-not threshold, the amount recognized in the financial statements is the largest benefit that has a greater than 50 percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant tax authority. We recognize interest and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense.

Stock Based Compensation

We account for grants of employee stock options, time-based restricted stock units and restricted stock as compensation expense based upon the fair value on the date of grant and such expense is recognized over the vesting condition, either based on a period of service of based on the performance of a specific achievement. For option awards measured at fair value, the fair value is determined

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using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Black-Scholes option pricing model incorporates certain assumptions, such as expected volatility, expected life of options, risk-free interest rate and expected dividend yield, in order to arrive at a fair value estimate. Expected volatilities are based on the average of the historical volatility of the Company’s Common Stock and that of an index of companies in our industry group. To evaluate our assumptions for the expected lives of options, we consider the average holding period of previously exercised options and the remaining terms of outstanding options. The risk-free interest rate is based upon quoted market yields for United States Treasury debt securities. The expected dividend yield is based upon the Company’s history of having never issued a dividend, the limitations to issue a dividend under the Amended Credit Agreement and management’s current expectation regarding future dividends. We believe that the assumptions selected by management are reasonable; however, significant changes could materially impact the results of the calculation of fair value.  

We also have granted restricted stock units measured based on either a target return on invested capital ratio (“ROIC”), as defined in the award agreement, for a specified fiscal year, or the Company’s common stock market price returning a target total shareholder return (“TSR”), as defined, during a specific three-year measurement period. Upon achievement of the performance measurement, performance-based restricted stock units (“PSUs”) vest over a three-year period. Under FASB ASC Topic 718, the provisions of the PSUs that vest upon the achievement of relative TSR are considered a market condition, and therefore the effect of that market condition is reflected in the grant date fair value for this portion award. A third party was engaged to complete a “Monte Carlo simulation” to account for the market condition.  That simulation takes into account the beginning stock price of our common stock, the expected volatilities for the TSR comparator group, the expected volatilities for the Company’s stock price, correlation coefficients, the expected risk-free rate of return and the expected dividend yield of the Company and the comparator group.  The single grant-date fair value computed by this valuation method is recognized by the Company in accounting for the awards regardless of the actual future outcome of the relative TSR feature. The grant date fair value of the other PSUs and RSUs are calculated as the closing price of our common stock as quoted on Nasdaq on the grant date multiplied by the number of shares subject to the award. ROIC is considered a performance condition and the grant-date fair value for ROIC PSUs corresponds with management's expectation of the probable outcome of the performance condition as of the grant date.

Stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) are also an award type granted under our management incentive program and they are accounted for using the liability method since they are settled in cash, which requires mark-to-market adjustments based on the current trading price of Gentherm Common Stock to be recognized in statements of income.

Pension Plans

The Company’s obligations and expenses for its pension plans are substantially dependent on the Company’s selection of discount rate and, for the Gentherm GmbH Plan, expected long-term rate of return on plan assets assumptions used by actuaries to calculate these amounts.  Actual results that differ from assumptions used are accumulated and amortized over future periods and generally affect recognized expense in future periods. As such, assumptions used to calculate benefit obligations as of the annual measurement date directly impact the expense to be recognized in future periods.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

For a complete description of recent accounting standards which we have not yet been required to implement which may be applicable to our operations, as well as significant accounting standards that have been adopted during the year ended December 31, 2019, see Note 3, “New Accounting Pronouncements” to the consolidated financial statements included in this Report.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

At December 31, 2019, we do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements that have, or are, in the opinion of management, reasonably likely to have, a current or future material effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

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Effects of Inflation

The automotive component supply industry is subject to inflationary pressures with respect to raw materials and labor, which have historically placed operational and financial burdens on the entire supply chain. Accordingly, the Company continues to take actions with its customers and suppliers to mitigate the impact of these inflationary pressures in the future. Actions to mitigate inflationary pressures with customers include collaboration on alternative product designs and material specifications, contractual price escalation clauses and negotiated customer recoveries. Actions to mitigate inflationary pressures with suppliers include aggregation of purchase requirements to achieve optimal volume benefits, negotiation of cost-reductions and identification of more cost competitive suppliers. While these actions are designed to offset the impact of inflationary pressures, the Company cannot provide assurance that it will be successful in fully offsetting increased costs resulting from inflationary pressure.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

The following table summarizes our expected cash outflows resulting from financial contracts and commitments as of December 31, 2019.  We have not included information on our recurring purchases of materials for use in our manufacturing operations.  These amounts are generally consistent from year to year, closely reflect our levels of production and are not long-term in nature.

The Company does not have any outstanding capital lease agreements.

Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our debt obligations and foreign currency contracts. We have in the past, and may in the future, place our investments in bank certificates of deposits, debt instruments of the U. S. government, and in high-quality corporate issuers.

We are exposed to market risk from changes in foreign currency exchange rates, short-term interest rates and price fluctuations of certain material commodities. Market risks for changes in interest rates relate primarily to our debt obligations under our Amended Credit Agreement. Foreign currency exchange risks are attributable to sales to foreign customers and purchases from foreign suppliers not denominated in a location’s functional currency, foreign plant operations, intercompany indebtedness, intercompany investments and include exposures to the Euro, Mexican Peso, Canadian Dollar, Hungarian Forint, Macedonian Denar, Ukrainian Hryvnia, Japanese Yen, Chinese Renminbi, Korean Won and Vietnamese Dong.

The Company regularly enters into derivative contracts with the objective of managing its financial and operational exposure arising from these risks by offsetting gains and losses on the underlying exposures with gains and losses on the financial instruments used to hedge them. The maximum length of time over which we hedge our exposure to foreign currency exchange risks is one year. We had foreign currency derivative contracts with a notional value of $14.4 million and $33.3 million outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

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We do not enter into derivative financial instruments for speculative or trading purposes. Our hedging relationships are formally documented at the inception of the hedge, and hedges must be highly effective in offsetting changes to future cash flows on hedged transactions both at the inception of a hedge and on an ongoing basis to be designated for hedge accounting treatment. For derivative contracts which can be classified as a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of the change in the fair value of the derivative is recorded to accumulated other comprehensive loss in the consolidated balance sheet.  When the underlying hedge transaction is realized, the gain or loss included in accumulated other comprehensive loss is recorded in earnings in the consolidated statements of income on the same line as the gain or loss on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk.  We record the ineffective portion of foreign currency hedging instruments, if any, to foreign currency gain (loss) in the consolidated statements of income. Though we continuously monitor the hedging program, derivative positions and hedging strategies, foreign currency forward exchange agreements have not always been designated as hedging instruments for accounting purposes.

The Company uses an income approach to value derivative instruments, analyzing quoted market prices to calculate the forward values and then discounts such forward values to the present value using benchmark rates at commonly quoted intervals for the instrument’s full term.

Information related to the fair values of derivative instruments in our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019 is as follows (in thousands):

Information related to the fair values of derivative instruments in our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018 is as follows (in thousands):

Information related to the effect of derivative instruments on our consolidated statements of income and statements of comprehensive income is as follows (in thousands):