Goodwill

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by segment for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 are as follows:



(dollars in thousands)	U.S. & Canada			Latin America			EMEA			Total
Beginning balance December 31, 2016:
Goodwill	$	43,872		$	125,681		$	9,434		$	178,987
Accumulated impairment losses	(5,441		)	—			(9,434		)	(14,875		)
Net beginning balance	38,431			125,681			—			164,112
Impairment	—			(79,700		)	—			(79,700		)
Ending balance September 30, 2017:
Goodwill	43,872			125,681			9,434			178,987
Accumulated impairment losses	(5,441		)	(79,700		)	(9,434		)	(94,575		)
Net ending balance	$	38,431		$	45,981		$	—		$	84,412

As part of our on-going assessment of goodwill, we noted that third quarter sales, profitability and cash flow of our Mexico reporting unit (within the Latin America segment) significantly underperformed in comparison to the forecast, and expectations for the fourth quarter of 2017 were lowered as well. These factors, as well as continuing competitive pressures, long term weakness of the Mexican peso relative to the U.S. dollar, and an increase in the discount rate of 70 basis points since December 31, 2016 (the most recent valuation date), all contributed to increased pressure on the outlook of the reporting unit. As a result, we determined a triggering event had occurred for our Mexico reporting unit. Accordingly, an interim impairment test was performed as of September 30, 2017, indicating that the carrying value of the Mexico reporting unit exceeded its fair value, and in accordance with the early adoption of ASU 2017-04, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $79.7 million during the third quarter of 2017.

When performing our test for impairment, we measured each reporting unit's fair value using a combination of "income" and "market" approaches on a shipping point basis. The income approach calculates the fair value of the reporting unit based on a discounted cash flow analysis, incorporating the weighted average cost of capital of a hypothetical third party buyer. Significant estimates in the income approach include the following: discount rate; expected financial outlook and profitability of the reporting unit's business; and foreign currency impacts (all Level 3 inputs in the fair value hierarchy). Discount rates use the weighted average cost of capital for companies within our peer group, adjusted for specific company risk premium factors. The market approach uses the "Guideline Company" method, which calculates the fair value of the reporting unit based on a comparison of the reporting unit to comparable publicly traded companies. Significant estimates in the market approach model include identifying similar companies with comparable business factors such as size, growth, profitability, risk and return on investment, assessing comparable multiples, as well as consideration of control premiums (Level 2 inputs). The blended approach assigns a 70 percent weighting to the income approach and 30 percent to the market approach (Level 3 input). The higher weighting is given to the income approach due to some limitations of publicly available peer information used in the market approach. The blended fair value of both approaches is then compared to the carrying value, and to the extent that fair value exceeds the carrying value, no impairment exists. However, to the extent the carrying value exceeds the fair value, an impairment is recorded.

With the estimated fair value of the Mexico reporting unit equaling its carrying value as of September 30, 2017, there is a potential of future impairment for the remaining goodwill balance of $46.0 million should the discount rate increase or the challenging environment last longer or be deeper than expected and require us to further reduce our expected future operating results.

As a result of the factors noted above, we evaluated the fair value of our long-lived assets noting that the fair value continues to exceed carrying value as of September 30, 2017.