Organization, Consolidation and Summary of Principal Accounting Policies (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Organization, Consolidation and Summary of Principal Accounting Policies (Policies) [Abstract]

Generally accepted accounting principles

1. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. There is a year-round demand for the Company’s passenger and truck replacement tires, but sales of light vehicle replacement tires are generally strongest during the third and fourth quarters of the year. Winter tires are sold principally during the months of June through November.

Fiscal Period Policy

Operating results for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2011 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Equity method investment

The Company consolidates into its financial statements the accounts of the Company, all wholly-owned subsidiaries, and any partially-owned subsidiary that the Company has the ability to control. Control generally equates to ownership percentage, whereby investments that are more than 50 percent owned are consolidated, investments in affiliates of 50 percent or less but greater than 20 percent are accounted for using the equity method, and investments in affiliates of 20 percent or less are accounted for using the cost method.

Consolidation policy

The Company does not consolidate any entity for which it has a variable interest based solely on power to direct the activities and significant participation in the entity’s expected results that would not otherwise be consolidated based on control through voting interests. Further, the Company’s joint ventures are businesses established and maintained in connection with the Company’s operating strategy. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

Consolidation variable interest entity policy

Since the Company had determined as of December 31, 2010 that both Cooper Kenda and Cooper de Mexico were Variable Interest Entities (“VIEs”) and it was the primary beneficiary, it had included their assets, liabilities and operating results in its consolidated financial statements. At December 31, 2010, the assets (principally Property, plant and equipment) of these VIEs, $204,535, could only be used to settle obligations of those VIEs. Similarly, liabilities (principally Notes payable) of consolidated VIEs, $80,414, at December 31, 2010 represented claims against the specific assets of the VIEs. Because of the increased ownership in these two entities, these restrictions are no longer applicable.

Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2011, the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2011-05, “Presentation of Comprehensive Income”, which requires an entity to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income, or in two separate but consecutive statements. ASU 2011-05 eliminates the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of equity. ASU 2011-05 is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2011. Although the Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2011-05 to have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements, it will change its financial statement presentation.

Earning per share policy

3. Net income per share is computed on the basis of the weighted average number of common shares outstanding each year. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations includes the dilutive effect of stock options and other stock units.

Derivative policy

4. Derivative financial instruments are utilized by the Company to reduce foreign currency exchange risks. The Company has established policies and procedures for risk assessment and the approval, reporting and monitoring of derivative financial instrument activities. The Company does not enter into financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. The derivative financial instruments include fair value and cash flow hedges of foreign currency exposures. The change in values of the fair value foreign currency hedges offset exchange rate fluctuations on the foreign currency-denominated intercompany loans and obligations. The Company presently hedges exposures in the Euro, Canadian dollar, British pound sterling, Swiss franc, Swedish krona, Norwegian krone, Mexican peso and Chinese yuan generally for transactions expected to occur within the next 12 months.

Fair value measurement of financial instruments

The Company has categorized its financial instruments, based on the priority of the inputs to the valuation technique, into the three-level fair value hierarchy. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). If the inputs used to measure the financial instruments fall within the different levels of the hierarchy, the categorization is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets are categorized based on the inputs to the valuation techniques as follows:

Level 1. Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in an active market that the Company has the ability to access.

Level 2. Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on quoted prices in markets that are not active or model inputs that are observable either directly or indirectly for substantially the full term of the asset or liability. Level 2 inputs include the following:

a.	Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets;
b.	Quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in non-active markets;
c.	Pricing models whose inputs are observable for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; and
d.	Pricing models whose inputs are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data through correlation or other means for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.

Level 3. Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. These inputs reflect management’s own assumptions about the assumptions a market participant would use in pricing the asset or liability.

Inventory policy

6.

At December 31, 2010, approximately 37 percent of the Company’s inventories had been valued under the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method. At June 30, 2011, approximately 42 percent of the Company’s inventories are valued under the LIFO method. The remaining inventories have been valued under the first-in, first-out (“ FIFO”) method or average cost method. All inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market.

Under the LIFO method, inventories have been reduced by approximately $191,180 and $261,886 at December 31, 2010 and June 30, 2011, respectively, from current cost which would be reported under the FIFO method.

Share based compensation option and incentive plans policy

7. The Company’s incentive compensation plans allow the Company to grant awards to key employees in the form of stock options, stock awards, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, performance units, dividend equivalents and other awards. Compensation related to these awards is determined based on the fair value on the date of grant and is amortized to expense over the vesting period. For restricted stock units and performance stock units, the Company recognizes compensation expense based on the earlier of the vesting date or the date when the employee becomes eligible to retire. If awards can be settled in cash, these awards are recorded as liabilities and marked to market.

Standard product warranty policy

10. The Company provides for the estimated cost of product warranties at the time revenue is recognized based primarily on historical return rates, estimates of the eligible tire population and the value of tires to be replaced. The following table summarizes the activity in the Company’s product warranty liabilities:

Commitments and Contingency policy

The Company accrues costs for products liability at the time a loss is probable and the amount of loss can be estimated. The Company believes the probability of loss can be established and the amount of loss can be estimated only after certain minimum information is available, including verification that Company-produced products were involved in the incident giving rise to the claim, the condition of the product purported to be involved in the claim, the nature of the incident giving rise to the claim and the extent of the purported injury or damages. In cases where such information is known, each products liability claim is evaluated based on its specific facts and circumstances. A judgment is then made to determine the requirement for establishment or revision of an accrual for any potential liability. The liability often cannot be determined with precision until the claim is resolved.

Pursuant to applicable accounting rules, the Company accrues the minimum liability for each known claim when the estimated outcome is a range of possible loss and no one amount within that range is more likely than another. The Company uses a range of losses because an average cost would not be meaningful since the products liability claims faced by the Company are unique and widely variable, and accordingly, the resolutions of those claims have an enormous amount of variability. The costs have ranged from zero dollars to $33,000 in one case with no “average” that is meaningful. No specific accrual is made for individual unasserted claims or for premature claims, asserted claims where the minimum information needed to evaluate the probability of a liability is not yet known. However, an accrual for such claims based, in part, on management’s expectations for future litigation activity and the settled claims history is maintained. Because of the speculative nature of litigation in the United States, the Company does not believe a meaningful aggregate range of potential loss for asserted and unasserted claims can be determined. The Company’s experience has demonstrated that its estimates have been reasonably accurate and, on average, cases are resolved for amounts close to the reserves established. However, it is possible an individual claim from time to time may result in an aberration from the norm and could have a material impact.

Accounting for Income Taxes

The Company maintains a valuation allowance on its net U.S. deferred tax asset position. A valuation allowance is required pursuant to ASC 740, “Accounting for Income Taxes,” when, based upon an assessment which is largely dependent upon objectively verifiable evidence including recent operating loss history, expected reversal of existing deferred tax liabilities and tax loss carry back capacity, it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The valuation allowance will be maintained as long as it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax asset may not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined separately for each taxing jurisdiction in which the Company conducts its operations or otherwise generates taxable income or losses. In the U.S., the Company has recorded significant deferred tax assets, the largest of which relate to products liability, pension and other postretirement benefit obligations. These deferred tax assets are partially offset by deferred tax liabilities, the most significant of which relates to accelerated depreciation. Based upon this assessment, the Company maintains a $170,589 valuation allowance for the portion of U.S. deferred tax assets exceeding its U.S. deferred tax liabilities. In addition, the Company has recorded valuation allowances of $7,013 for deferred tax assets associated with the portion of non-U.S. deferred tax assets exceeding the non-U.S. deferred tax liabilities for a total valuation allowance of $177,602.

Income tax uncertainties policy

The Company maintains an ASC 740-10, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes” liability for unrecognized tax benefits for permanent and temporary book/tax differences for continuing operations. At June 30, 2011, the Company’s liability, exclusive of interest, totals $9,123. The Company accrued $20 and $35 of interest expense for the three and six-month periods ending June 30, 2011 which has been recorded as a discrete item in its tax provision.

Noncontrolling shareholders interest policy

13. In connection with the investment in Cooper Chengshan, beginning January 1, 2009 and continuing through December 31, 2011, the noncontrolling shareholders have the option, which is embedded in the noncontrolling interest, to require the Company to purchase the original 49 percent noncontrolling share at the greater of a minimum price of $62,700 or a formula price that varies based on operating results of the entity. The combination of a noncontrolling interest and a put option resulted in a redeemable noncontrolling shareholder interest. The put option is not separated from the shares as an embedded derivative because the underlying shares are not readily convertible into cash.

The noncontrolling interest is redeemable at other than fair value as the put value is determined based on a specified formula as described above. The Company records the noncontrolling shareholders’ interests in Cooper Chengshan at the greater of 1) the initial carrying amount, increased or decreased for the noncontrolling shareholders’ share of net income or loss and its share of other comprehensive income or loss and dividends (“carrying amount”) or 2) the value of the put option which is determined based on the greater of the minimum amount or the formula derived amount. According to authoritative accounting guidance, the Redeemable noncontrolling shareholders’ interests are classified outside of permanent equity, as a mezzanine item, on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.