cvgi-20241231
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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K
or
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 Commission file number:001-34365
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
(State of Incorporation) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
New Albany, Ohio (Zip Code)
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:
(614)289-5360
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class Trading Symbol Name of exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share CVGI The NASDAQ Global Select Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ̈Noþ
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Schedule 15(d) of the Act. Yes ̈Noþ
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. Yesþ 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 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yesþ No ̈
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer ̈Accelerated filerþ Non-accelerated filer ̈ Smaller reporting company ☐Emerging growth company ☐
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 has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ̈
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No þ
The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold on June 30, 2024, was $163,875,424.
As of March 14, 2025, 34,640,434 shares of Common Stock of the Registrant were outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference
Information required by Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated by reference from the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for its annual meeting to be held May 15, 2025 (the “2025 Proxy Statement”).
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COMMERCIAL VEHICLE GROUP, INC.
Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of Contents
Page
PART I
Item 1. Business 1
Item 1A. Risk Factors 7
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 18
Item 1C Cybersecurity 18
Item 2. Properties 19
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 19
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 19
PART II
Item 6. [Reserved] 22
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 32
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 34
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 72
Item 9B. Other Information 75
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 75
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 76
Item 11. Executive Compensation 79
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 80
PART IV
SIGNATURES 86
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CERTAIN DEFINITIONS
All references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the “Company”, “Commercial Vehicle Group”, “CVG”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (unless the context otherwise requires).
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including without limitation, certain statements under “Item 1 - Business” and “Item 7 - Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and located elsewhere herein regarding industry outlook, the Company’s expectations for future periods with respect to its plans to improve financial results, the future of the Company’s end marketschanges in the Class 8 and Class 5-7 North America truck build rates, performance of the global construction and agricultural equipment business, the Company’s prospects in the wire harness and electric vehicle markets, the Company’s initiatives to address customer needs, organic growth, the Company’s strategic plans and plans to focus on certain segments, competition faced by the Company, volatility in and disruption to the global economic environment, including global supply chain constraints, inflation and labor shortages, tariffs and counter-measures, financial covenant compliance, anticipated effects of acquisitions or divestitures, production of new products, plans for capital expenditures and our results of operations or financial position and liquidity, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “believe”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “expect”, “intend”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would”, “project”, “continue”, “likely”, and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The important factors discussed in “Item 1A - Risk Factors”, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements made herein and presented elsewhere by management from time to time. Such forward-looking statements represent management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Investors are warned that actual results may differ from management’s expectations. Additionally, various economic and competitive factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, factors which are outside our control.
Any forward-looking statement that we make in this report speaks only as of the date of such statement, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to publicly announce the results of any revision to any of those statements to reflect future events or developments. Comparisons of results for current and any prior periods are not intended to express any future trends or indications of future performance, unless specifically expressed as such, and should only be viewed as historical data.
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PART I
Item 1. Business
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, is a global provider of systems, assemblies and components to the global commercial vehicle market and the electric vehicle markets. We deliver real solutions to complex design, engineering and manufacturing problems while creating positive change for our customers, industries, and communities we serve. References herein to the "Company", "CVG", "we", "our", or "us" refer to Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
We have manufacturing operations in the United States, Mexico, China, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Morocco, Thailand, India and Australia. Our products are primarily sold in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
We primarily manufacture customized products to meet the requirements of our customer. We believe our products are used by a majority of the North American Commercial Truck manufacturers, many construction and agriculture vehicle original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"), parts and service dealers and distributors.
Our Long-term Strategy
Refer to Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
SEGMENTS
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company sold its cab structures business with operations in Kings Mountain, North Carolina and its First Source Electronics (FSE) business with operations in Elkridge, Maryland. The FSE business was the Company's Industrial Automation segment. These divestitures represent a strategic shift in CVG's business and, in accordance with U.S. GAAP, qualified as discontinued operations. As a result, the operating results related to the cab structures business and Industrial Automation segment have been reflected as discontinued operations in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. See Note 17, Discontinued Operations, for additional information on the divestitures.
As a result of classifying the Industrial Automation reporting segment as a discontinued operation, CVG has three reportable segments for 2024: Vehicle Solutions, Electrical Systems and Aftermarket & Accessories. The financial information reported for Vehicle Solutions and Aftermarket & Accessories excludes the activity from the Kings Mountain, North Carolina facility as a result of the divestiture.
Our segments offer various products which are sold into many end user markets such as internal combustion commercial vehicles, electric vehicles, construction and agriculture equipment, power sports, and military. Certain of our facilities manufacture and sell products through multiple business segments. The products produced by each of our segments are more specifically described below.
The Vehicle Solutions segment designs, manufactures and sells the following products:
•Commercial vehicle seats for the global commercial vehicle markets including heavy duty trucks, medium duty trucks, last mile delivery trucks and vans, construction and agriculture equipment in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. This segment includes a portion of the Company’s activities in the electric vehicle market.
•Plastic & Trim components primarily for the North America commercial vehicle market, medium-duty/heavy-duty ("MD/HD") truck market, and power sports markets.
The Electrical Systems segment designs, manufactures and sells the following products:
•Cable and harness assemblies for both high and low voltage applications, control boxes, dashboard assemblies and design and engineering for these applications.
•The end markets for these products are construction, agricultural, industrial, automotive (both internal combustion and electric vehicles), truck, mining, rail, marine, power generation and the military/ defense industries in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The Aftermarket & Accessories segment designs, manufactures and sells the following products:
•Seats and components sold into the commercial vehicle channels that provide repair and refurbishing. These channels include Original Equipment Service ("OES") centers and retail distributors, and are spread across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
•Commercial vehicle accessories including wipers, mirrors, and sensors. These products are sold both as Original Equipment and as repair products.
•Office seats primarily sold into the commercial and home office furniture distribution channels in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
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The charts below display CVG's net sales by segment and geography for the year ended December 31, 2024.
VEHICLE SOLUTIONS SEGMENT OVERVIEW
Vehicle Solutions Segment Products
Set forth below is a brief description of our products manufactured in the Vehicle Solutions Segment and their applications.
Seats and Seating Systems. We design, engineer and produce seats for MD/HD truck, bus, construction, agriculture and military markets. Our seats are primarily sold fully-assembled and ready for installation. We offer a wide range of seats that include mechanical and air suspension seats, static seats, bus seats and military seats. As a result of our product design and product technology, we believe we are a leader in designing seats with convenience and safety features. Our seats are designed to achieve a high level of operator comfort by adding a wide range of manual and power features such as lumbar support, cushion and back bolsters, and leg and thigh support. Our seats are built to meet customer requirements in low volumes and produced in numerous feature combinations to form a full-range product line with a wide range of price points.
Our seats are sold under multiple brands, including KAB SeatingTM, National SeatingTM, Bostrom Seating®, and StratosTM.
Plastic Assemblies and Components. We design, engineer and produce plastic components and assemblies for MD/HD, power sports vehicles, specialty vehicle applications, and diversified markets. We offer thermoformed products, injection molded products, reaction injection molded products (RIM), and decorated / hydrographic finished products. We also assemble components and fabrics to these formed plastic parts and deliver complete subassemblies in bulk and in sequence. Our principal products in this category include:
Molded Products. Our molded products include both large and small parts. Specific components include vinyl or cloth-covered appliqués ranging from a traditional cut and sew approach to a contemporary molded styling theme, armrests, map pocket compartments, and sound-reducing insulation.
Instrument Panels. We produce and assemble instrument panels that can be integrated with the rest of the interior trim. The instrument panel is a complex system of coverings and foam, plastic and metal parts designed to house various components and act as a safety device for the vehicle occupant.
Plastics Decorating and Finishing. We offer customers a wide variety of cost-effective finishes in paint, ultra violet, hard coating and customized industrial hydrographic films (simulated appearance of wood grain, carbon fiber, brushed metal, marbles, camouflage and custom patterns), and other interior and exterior finishes.
Cab Interiors. We design, manufacture and provide a variety of interior design products including armrests, grab handles, storage systems, floor coverings, floor mats, sleeper bunks, headliners, wall panels, and privacy curtains that can be part of the overall cab structure or standalone assemblies depending on the customer application.
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Our plastic products are sold under the AdvancTEKTM brand name.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS SEGMENT OVERVIEW
Electrical Systems Segment Products
Wire Harness Assemblies. We design, engineer and produce a wide range of high and low voltage electrical wire systems for vehicles and subsystems, which include Ethernet, battery cables and power distribution boxes. Our electrical wire harness assemblies function as the primary electric current carrying devices used to provide electrical interconnections for gauges, lights, control functions, power circuits, powertrain and transmission sensors, emissions systems and other electronic applications on commercial and other vehicles. Our wire harnesses are customized to fit specific end-user requirements and can be complex. Our production capabilities include low and high volume serial production with low and high volume circuitry, RIM (reaction injection molding) and specialized testing. Our engineering and production capabilities include virtual wiring boards, automatic plug insertion stations, system architecture and schematic development and prototyping.
Our electrical systems segment products are sold into the construction, agriculture, industrial and electric vehicles, traditional automotive, mining, rail, marine, power generation and the military/defense industries in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
AFTERMARKET & ACCESSORIES SEGMENT OVERVIEW
Aftermarket & Accessories Segment Products
We design, manufacture, and provide a variety of seats, mirrors, wipers and wiper systems sold into the commercial MD/HD truck, military and specialty power sports vehicles, electric vehicle, office and home office markets. These products are sold under various brands including, Bostrom®, National SeatingTM, Moto Mirror®, KAB SeatingTM (for both vehicles and Office markets), Sprague Devices® and RoadWatch®.
Our aftermarket products are primarily sold through the Original Equipment Service (OES) sales channel and direct into the retail aftermarket as replacements for original equipment in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
OUR CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS
Primary Industries Served
Commercial Vehicle Market. Commercial vehicles are used in a wide variety of end markets, including local and long-haul commercial trucking, bus, construction, mining, agricultural, military, industrial, municipal, off-road recreational and specialty vehicle markets. The commercial vehicle supply industry can generally be separated into two categories: (1) sales to OEMs, in which products are sold in relatively large quantities directly for use by OEMs in new commercial and construction vehicles; and (2) aftermarket sales, in which products are sold as replacements to a wide range of original equipment service organizations, wholesalers, retailers and installers. Additionally, we are seeing a trend toward alternate fuel and electric vehicles, middle-mile and last-mile vehicle models.
North American Commercial Truck Market. Purchasers of commercial trucks include fleet operators, owner operators, governmental agencies and industrial end users. Commercial vehicles used for local and long-haul commercial trucking are generally classified by gross vehicle weight. Class 8 vehicles are trucks with gross vehicle weight in excess of 33,000 lbs. and Classes 5 through 7 vehicles are trucks with gross vehicle weight from 16,001 lbs. to 33,000 lbs.
The following describes the major markets within the commercial vehicle market in which the Vehicle Solutions Segment competes:
Class 8 Truck Market. The global Class 8 ("Class 8" or "heavy-duty") truck manufacturing market is concentrated in three primary regions: North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The global Class 8 truck market is localized in nature due to the following factors: (1) the prohibitive costs of shipping components from one region to another, (2) the high degree of customization to meet the region-specific demands of end-users, and (3) the ability to meet just-in-time delivery requirements. New Class 8 truck demand is cyclical and is particularly sensitive to economic factors that generate a significant portion of the freight tonnage hauled by commercial vehicles.
Class 5-7 Truck Market. North American Class 5-7 ("Class 5-7" or "medium-duty") includes recreational vehicles, buses and medium-duty trucks. We primarily participate in the Class 6 and 7 portion of the medium-duty truck market.
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The medium-duty truck market is influenced by overall economic conditions but has historically been less cyclical than the North American Class 8 truck market.
Commercial Truck Aftermarket. Demand for aftermarket products is driven by the quality of OEM parts, the number of vehicles in operation, the average age of the vehicle fleet, the content and value per vehicle, vehicle usage and the average useful life of vehicle parts. Aftermarket sales tend to be at a higher margin. The recurring nature of aftermarket revenue can be expected to provide some insulation to the overall cyclical nature of the industry as it tends to provide a more stable stream of revenues. Brand equity and the extent of a company’s distribution network also contribute to the level of aftermarket sales. We believe CVG has a widely recognized brand portfolio and participates in most retail sales channels including original equipment dealer networks and independent distributors.
Construction and Agriculture Equipment Market. New vehicle demand in the global construction and agriculture equipment market generally follows certain economic conditions including gross domestic product, infrastructure investment, housing starts, business investment, oil and energy investment and industrial production around the world. Within the construction and agriculture market, there are two classes of construction and agriculture equipment markets: the medium and heavy construction and agriculture equipment market (weighing over 12 metric tons) and the light construction and agriculture equipment market (weighing below 12 metric tons). We primarily supply OEMs with our wire harness and seating products. Our construction and agriculture equipment products are primarily used in the medium and heavy construction and agriculture equipment market. The platforms that we generally participate in include: cranes, pavers, planers and profilers, dozers, loaders, graders, haulers, tractors, excavators, backhoes, material handling and compactors. Demand in the medium and heavy construction and agriculture equipment market is typically related to the level of larger-scale infrastructure development projects such as highways, dams, harbors, hospitals, airports and industrial development as well as activity in the mining, forestry and other commodities industries.
Purchasers of medium and heavy construction and agriculture equipment include construction companies, municipalities, local governments, rental fleet owners, quarrying and mining companies and forestry related industries. Purchasers of light construction and agriculture equipment include contractors, rental fleet owners, landscapers, logistics companies and farmers.
Military Equipment Market. We supply products for heavy- and medium-payload tactical vehicles and complex military communications equipment over multiple product lines that are used by various defense customers. Military equipment production is particularly sensitive to political and governmental budgetary considerations.
Our Customer Contracts, and Sales and Marketing
Our customers generally source business to us pursuant to written contracts, purchase orders or other commitments (“Commercial Arrangements”) with terms of price, quality, technology, and delivery. Awarded business generally covers the supply of all or a portion of a customer’s production and service requirements for a particular product program rather than the supply of a specific quantity of products. In general, these Commercial Arrangements provide that the customer can terminate them if we do not meet specified quality, delivery and cost requirements. Although these Commercial Arrangements may be terminated at any time by our customers (but generally not by us without advance notice), such terminations have generally been minimal and have not had a material impact on our results of operations.
Our Commercial Arrangements with our OEM customers may provide for an annual prospective productivity price reduction. These productivity price reductions are generally calculated on an annual basis as a percentage of the previous year’s purchases by each customer. Historically, most of these price reductions have been offset by internal cost reductions and through the assistance of our supply base, although no assurances can be given that we will be able to achieve such reductions in the future. The cost reduction is achieved through engineering changes, material cost reductions, logistics savings, reductions in packaging cost, labor efficiencies and other productivity actions.
Our sales and marketing efforts are designed to create customer awareness of our engineering, design and manufacturing capabilities. Our sales and marketing staff work closely with our design and engineering personnel to prepare the materials used for bidding on new business, as well as to provide an interface between us and our key customers. We have sales and marketing personnel located in every major region in which we operate. From time to time, we participate in industry trade shows and advertise in industry publications.
Our Supply Agreements
Our supply agreements generally provide for fixed pricing but do not require us to purchase any specified quantities. Normally we do not carry inventories of raw materials or finished products in excess of what is reasonably required to meet production
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and shipping schedules, as well as service requirements. Steel, aluminum, petroleum-based products, copper, resin, foam, fabrics, wire and wire components comprise the most significant portion of our raw material costs. We typically purchase steel, copper and petroleum-based products at market prices that are fixed over varying periods of time. Due to the volatility in pricing, we use methods such as market index pricing and competitive bidding to assist in reducing our overall cost. We strive to align our customer pricing and material costs to minimize the impact of price fluctuations. Certain component purchases and suppliers are directed by our customers, so we generally will pass through directly to the customer cost changes from these components. We generally are not dependent on a single supplier or limited group of suppliers for our raw materials.
Competition
Within each of our principal product categories we compete with a variety of independent suppliers and with vertically integrated in-house operations, primarily on the basis of price, breadth of product offerings, product quality, technical expertise, development capability, product delivery and product service.
Manufacturing Processes
We utilize a wide range of manufacturing processes to produce our products. The end markets for our products can be highly specialized and our customers frequently request modified products in low volumes within an expedited delivery timeframe. As a result, we primarily utilize flexible manufacturing cells at our production facilities. Manufacturing cells are clusters of individual manufacturing operations and work stations. This provides flexibility by allowing efficient changes to the number of operations each operator performs. When compared to the more traditional, less flexible assembly line process, cell manufacturing allows us to better maintain our product output consistent with our OEM customers’ requirements and minimize the level of inventory.
We have systems in place that allow us to provide complete customized interior kits in returnable containers and disposable dunnage that are delivered in sequence. Several of our manufacturing facilities are strategically located near our customers’ assembly facilities, which facilitates this process and minimizes shipping costs.
We employ just-in-time manufacturing and sourcing in our operations to meet customer requirements for faster deliveries and to minimize our need to carry significant inventory levels. We utilize material systems to manage inventory levels and, in certain locations, we have inventory delivered as often as two times per day from a nearby facility based on the previous day’s order, which reduces the need to carry excess inventory at our facilities.
We strive to maintain a certain portion of temporary labor to improve our ability to flex our costs and throughput as required by fluctuating customer demand. We engage our core employees to assist in making our processes efficient.
Research and Development
Our research and development capabilities offer quality and technologically advanced products to our customers at competitive prices. We offer product styling, product design, specialized simulation and testing and evaluation services that are necessary in today’s global markets. Our capabilities in acoustics, thermal efficiency, benchmarking, multi-axis durability, biomechanics, comfort, prototyping and process prove-out allow us to provide complete integrated solutions.
We engage in global engineering, and research and development activities that improve the reliability, performance and cost-effectiveness of our existing products and support the design, development and testing of new products for existing and new applications. Generally, we work with our customers’ engineering and development teams at the beginning of the design process for new components and assemblies and systems, or the re-engineering process for existing components and assemblies, in order to leverage production efficiency and quality.
Research and development costs for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 totaled $8.3 million, $6.2 million and $7.1 million, respectively.
Intellectual Property
Our major brands include CVGTM, Sprague Devices®, Moto Mirror®, RoadWatch®, KAB SeatingTM, National SeatingTM, Bostrom Seating®, StratosTM, and AdvancTEKTM. We believe that our brands are valuable but that our business is not dependent on any one brand. We own U.S. federal trademark registrations for several of our product brands.
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Environmental
The Company is subject to changing federal, state, foreign and local laws and regulations governing the protection of the environment and occupational health and safety, including laws regulating air emissions, wastewater discharges, generation, storage, handling, use and transportation of hazardous materials; the emission and discharge of hazardous materials into the soil, ground or air; and the health and safety of our colleagues. Stringent fines and penalties may be imposed for noncompliance with these laws. In addition, environmental laws could impose liability for costs associated with investigating and remediating contamination at the Company’s facilities or at third-party facilities at which the Company may arrange for the disposal treatment of hazardous materials.
The Company believes it is in compliance in all material respects, with all applicable environmental laws and the Company is not aware of any noncompliance or obligation to investigate or remediate contamination that could reasonably be expected to result in a material liability. Several of our facilities are either certified as, or are in the process of being certified as ISO 9001, 14000, 14001 or TS16949 (the international environmental management standard) compliant or are developing similar environmental management systems. We have made, and will continue to make, capital and other expenditures to implement such environmental programs and comply with environmental requirements.
The environmental laws continue to be amended and revised to impose stricter obligations, and compliance with future additional environmental requirements could necessitate capital outlays. However, the Company does not believe that these expenditures will ultimately result in a material adverse effect on its financial position or results of operations. The Company cannot predict the precise effect such future requirements, if enacted, would have on the Company. The Company believes that such regulations would be enacted over time and would affect the industry as a whole.
Human Capital, Environmental, Social and Governance
As of December 31, 2024, CVG employs approximately 6,900 employees of which 6,400 are permanent employees and 500 are temporary employees. Approximately 5,300 (83%) of the Company's permanent employees are located outside of the United States and 1,100 (17%) are located in the United States. It is customary for the Company to employ temporary employees to both flex up/down to demand rates. Of our permanent workforce, approximately 1,000 (16%) are salaried and the remainder are hourly. As of December 31, 2024, all of the Company's U.S. employees are non-union and a majority of the Company's personnel in Mexico are unionized. Approximately 75% of our European, Asian and Australian operations are represented by some form of shop steward committees.
The Company is committed to establishing and developing a workforce to support our long-term diversification and growth strategy through targeted external recruiting, and internal development and succession planning. We continue to develop our leaders and identify emerging leaders for targeted training opportunities and continue to leverage virtual learning platforms to make training more accessible for our global workforce.
Compensation and Benefits - Our compensation programs reinforce a pay-for-performance philosophy with market-based compensation and benefits that are competitive for the manufacturing sector. Specific programs vary worldwide based on regional practices and benchmarks.
Diversity of Thought and Inclusive Approach - The Company focuses on the role our culture plays in creating the right environment for diverse thinking and inclusive approaches to work that benefits our employees. During regular engagements with our global leadership team, we highlight how our organizational evolution benefits from a culture of diversity. Among our global workforce, 51% is female, and among our domestic workforce, 32% is racially diverse. We are also making a concerted effort to connect to the communities where our employees live and work, enabling our teams to grow both professionally and personally.
Safety - The safety of our workforce has always been a top priority and the Company is proud of our safety record, which includes four consecutive years of declining recordable incidents and six consecutive years of declining incident rates. Our 2024 full year incident rate of 0.34 is below the industry benchmarks and a 9% decrease year over year while working approximately 90,000 fewer hours.
CVG is committed to operating in an ethical and sustainable manner that benefits all our stakeholders including customers, employees, shareholders and the communities we serve. We have established company-wide environmental, human rights and labor rights policies that outline the Company’s standards for all business operations. More information on these policies can be found on our website under the caption “About Us - CVG Policies,” including highlights of our ongoing Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) efforts related to safety, quality, environmental, community engagement and corporate governance.
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AVAILABLE INFORMATION
We maintain a website on the Internet at www.cvgrp.com. We make available free of charge through our website, by way of a hyperlink to a third-party Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") filing website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, including exhibits and amendments to those reports electronically filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934. Such information is available as soon as such reports are filed with the SEC. Additionally, our Code of Ethics may be accessed within the Investor Relations section of our website. Information found on our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other report filed with the SEC.
INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
See Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance" in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 1A.Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. These are not the only risks we face. If any of these risks and uncertainties were to actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Our results of operations could be adversely affected by declines in new truck orders by fleets, freight tonnage hauled and in infrastructure development and other construction projects as a result of a downturn in the U.S. and/or global economy or other reasons.
Our results of operations are directly impacted by declines in freight tonnage hauled and in infrastructure development and other construction projects resulting from U.S. and/or other global economic conditions or other reasons because, among other things:
▪Demand for our MD/HD Truck products is generally dependent on the number of new MD/HD Truck commercial vehicles manufactured in North America. Historically, the demand for MD/HD Truck commercial vehicles has declined during periods of weakness in the North American economy.
▪Demand for our construction and agriculture equipment products is dependent on vehicle demand for new commercial vehicles in the global construction and agriculture equipment market.
▪Demand in the medium and heavy-construction vehicle market, which is where our products are primarily used, is typically related to the level of larger-scale infrastructure development projects.
When we experience periods of low demand for our products or volatility in the commercial vehicle markets our revenues, operating results and financial position are adversely affected.
We face risks related to heightened inflation, recession, financial and credit market disruptions and other economic conditions.
Our financial results, operations and prospects depend significantly on worldwide economic and geopolitical conditions, the demand for our products, and the financial condition of our customers and suppliers. Economic weakness and geopolitical uncertainty have in the past resulted, and may result in the future, in reduced demand for products resulting in decreased sales, margins and earnings. In addition to inflationary pressures, we may not be able to fully mitigate the impact of inflation or increased tariffs through price increases, productivity initiatives and cost savings, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, if the U.S. economy enters a recession, we may experience sales declines which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
Similarly, disruptions in financial and/or credit markets have in the past impacted, and may in the future impact, our ability to manage normal commercial relationships with our customers, suppliers and creditors. Further, in the event of a recession or threat of a recession, our customers and suppliers may suffer their own financial and economic challenges and as a result they may demand pricing accommodations, delay payment, or become insolvent, which could harm our ability to meet our customer demands or collect revenue or otherwise could harm our business. An economic or credit crisis could occur and impair credit availability and our ability to raise capital when needed. A disruption in the financial markets could impair our banking or other
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business partners, on whom we rely for access to capital. In addition, changes in tax or interest rates in the U.S. or other nations, whether due to recession, economic disruptions or other reasons, could have an adverse effect on our operating results.
Economic weakness and geopolitical uncertainty may also lead us to impair assets, take restructuring actions or adjust our operating strategy and reduce expenses in response to decreased sales or margins. We may not be able to adequately adjust our cost structure in a timely fashion, which could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition. Uncertainty about economic conditions may increase foreign currency volatility in markets in which we transact business, which could have an adverse effect on our operating results.
Volatility in and disruption to the global economic environment and changes in the regulatory and business environments in which we operate may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The commercial vehicle industry as a whole has been more adversely affected by volatile economic conditions than many other industries, as the purchase or replacement of commercial vehicles, which are durable items, may be deferred for many reasons. Future changes in the regulatory and business environments in which we operate, including increased trade protectionism and tariffs such as those recently announced by President Trump, and any retaliatory counter measures by affected countries, may adversely affect our ability to sell our products and source materials needed to manufacture our products. In addition, tariffs could increase our costs for materials sourced outside the US which we may not be able to pass along to our customers and would therefore adversely affect our results of operations. Furthermore, financial instability or bankruptcy at any of our suppliers or customers could disrupt our ability to manufacture our products and impair our ability to collect receivables, any or all of which may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, some of our customers and suppliers may experience serious cash flow problems and, thus, may find it difficult to obtain financing, if financing is available at all. Any inability of customers to pay us for our products and services, or any demands by suppliers for different payment terms, or inability of our suppliers to supply us may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, our suppliers may not be successful in generating sufficient sales, restarting or ramping up production or securing alternate financing arrangements, and therefore may no longer be able to supply goods and services to us. In that event, we would need to find alternate sources for these goods and services, and there is no assurance we would be able to find such alternate sources on favorable terms, if at all. Disruption in our supply chain has had and could continue to have an adverse effect on our ability to manufacture and deliver our products on a timely basis, and thereby affect our results of operations.
The U.S. government has taken actions or made proposals that are intended to address trade imbalances or trade practices, specifically with China, among other countries, which include encouraging increased production in the United States. Furthermore, the current administration has begun implementing a more protectionist trade environment, including through measures such as the imposition of higher tariffs on imports into the U.S., the renegotiation of some U.S. trade agreements and other government regulations affecting trade between the U.S. and other countries where we conduct our business, including announced tariffs on imports from China and Mexico, and threatened tariffs on imports from the EU. These actions and proposals have resulted or could result in retaliatory actions by affected countries. Such changes could increase the price we pay for certain raw materials we import from such countries, for which we may not able to obtain alternative supply at equivalent or lower prices, reduce demand for our products in other countries and adversely impact the U.S. economy or certain sectors thereof or the economy of other countries in which we conduct operations, our industry and supply chain, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be unable to successfully implement our business strategy and, as a result, our businesses and financial position and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our ability to achieve our business and financial objectives is subject to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. For example, we may not be successful in implementing our strategy if unforeseen factors emerge diminishing the current levels or any future expected growth in the commercial vehicle or electric vehicle markets we supply or expect to penetrate, or we experience increased pressure on our margins. Any failure to successfully implement our business strategy could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and growth potential.
Circumstances associated with our divestiture strategy could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
From time to time we evaluate the performance and strategic fit of our businesses and may decide to sell a business or product line based on such an evaluation. Divestitures, have in the past, and may in the future, result in significant write-offs, including those related to goodwill and other tangible and intangible assets, and such write offs can have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
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Our customer base is concentrated and the loss of business from a major customer or the discontinuation of particular commercial vehicle platforms could reduce our revenues.
Even though we may be selected as the supplier of a product by an OEM for a particular vehicle, our OEM customers issue blanket purchase orders, which generally provide for the supply of that customer’s annual requirements for that vehicle, rather than for a specific number of our products. If the OEM’s requirements are less than estimated, the number of products we sell to that OEM will be accordingly reduced. In addition, the OEM may terminate its purchase orders with us at any time. The loss of any of our large customers or the loss of significant business from any of these customers could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our profitability could be adversely affected if the actual production volumes for our customers’ vehicles are significantly lower than expected or our costs are higher than expected.
We incur costs and make capital expenditures based in part upon estimates of production volumes for our customers’ vehicles. While we attempt to establish a price for our components and systems that will compensate for variances in production volumes, when the actual production of these vehicles is significantly less than anticipated, our gross margin on these products is adversely affected. Our OEM customers have historically had a significant amount of leverage over us. We enter into agreements with our customers at the beginning of a given platform’s life to supply products for that platform. Once we enter into such agreements, fulfillment of the supply requirements is our obligation for the entire production life of the platform, with terms generally ranging from five to seven years, and we have limited provisions to terminate such contracts. We are committed to supplying products to our customers at selling prices that may, with the benefit of hindsight, not be sufficient to cover the direct cost to produce such products, which may be as a result of among other factors, inflation, new tariffs or increased employment costs due to increasingly competitive labor markets or other factors. We cannot predict our customers’ demands for our products. If customers representing a significant amount of our revenues were to purchase materially lower volumes than expected, or if we are unable to keep our commitment under the agreements, or if our costs are higher than anticipated, it would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Additionally, we generally do not have clauses in our customer agreements that guarantee that we will recoup the design and development costs that we incurred to develop a product. In other cases, we share the design costs with the customer and thereby have some risk that not all the costs will be covered if the project does not go forward or if it is not as profitable as expected.
Many of our new and targeted customers are start-up or early-stage companies and these customers are at substantial risk that their businesses will not succeed.
Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to maintain or increase our market share. Many of our new business wins and targeted prospects are early-stage or start-up companies. Early-stage or start-up companies are at substantial risk that the company’s business will not succeed. If the customer’s business does not succeed or the customer experiences cash flow problems, the customer may not be able to find financing or may not be able to pay us for our products and services, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, our future estimates and projections contemplate a continued business relationship and sales to these early-stage or start-up companies. If one or more of these customers no longer purchase products or services from us in the future, our sales and revenue will be adversely effected. Finally, we may incur significant initial costs in order to meet the production demands of these new customers, and our ability to recoup those costs requires a longer-term business relationship with the customer. Therefore, a failure of an early-stage or start-up customer may result in our inability to recoup the initial costs we incurred to prepare for production of products for that customer, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, growth prospects and financial condition.
We may be unable to successfully implement price increases to offset inflation or new tariffs and, as a result, our businesses and financial position and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We may not be able to implement customer price increases where margin on product is not meeting profitability targets. Failure to meet our profitability target may be the result of a variety of factors, such as fluctuations in our material, freight and labor costs, inflation, new or increased tariffs or other competitive conditions, which are beyond our control. Customers may refuse to pay increased prices that meet our profitability targets, re-source from other suppliers, or not issue purchase orders to us with large volumes. Any failure to successfully implement price increases in order to meet profitability targets could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and growth potential.
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We are subject to certain risks associated with our foreign operations.
We have operations in the Mexico, China, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Morocco, Ukraine, Australia, India and Thailand, which collectively accounted for approximately 30% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2024. There are certain risks inherent in our international business activities including, but not limited to:
•the difficulty of enforcing agreements and collecting receivables through certain foreign legal systems;
•foreign customers, who may have longer payment cycles than customers in the U.S.;
•foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations affecting our ability to match revenue received with costs;
•tax rates in certain foreign countries, which may exceed those in the U.S., withholding requirements or the imposition of tariffs, exchange controls or other restrictions, including restrictions on repatriation, of foreign earnings;
•intellectual property protection difficulties;
•general economic and political conditions, along with major differences in business culture and practices, including the challenges of dealing with business practices that may impact the company’s compliance efforts, in countries where we operate;
•exposure to local social unrest, including any acts of war, terrorism or similar events;
•exposure to local minimum wage requirements;
•the difficulties associated with managing a large organization spread throughout various countries; and
•complications in complying with a variety of laws and regulations related to doing business with and in foreign countries, some of which may conflict with U.S. law or may be vague or difficult to comply with.
Additionally, our international business activities are also subject to risks arising from violations of U.S. laws such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions, and various export control and trade embargo laws and regulations, including those which may require licenses or other authorizations for transactions relating to certain countries and/or with certain individuals identified by the U.S. government. If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could suffer civil and criminal penalties that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Our business has been impacted and may continue to be impacted by geopolitical conditions such as international trade wars (including between the United States and China, Mexico and Canada), the military conflict in Israel and Gaza, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, cyber-attacks and increased political tensions in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Currently, significant uncertainty surrounds the future trade relationships among the United States, China, Mexico and Canada. The U.S. government continues to make significant changes in U.S. trade policies that could negatively affect our business. Additionally, policies made by other countries, such as China, Mexico and Canada or their allies, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Decreased availability or increased costs of materials could affect both our ability to produce products as well as the cost of producing our products.
We purchase raw materials, fabricated components, assemblies and services from a variety of suppliers. Steel, aluminum, petroleum-based products, copper, resin, foam, fabrics, wire and wire components, semiconductor chips, electronics and electrical components account for the most significant portion of our raw material costs. Although we currently maintain alternative sources for most raw materials, from time to time, however, the prices and availability of these materials fluctuate due to global market demands and other considerations, which could impair the Company's ability to procure necessary materials, or increase the cost of such materials. We may be assessed surcharges on certain purchases of steel, copper and other raw materials. Inflationary and other increases in costs, including as a result of new or increased tariffs, or shortages of the various materials that are needed for us to produce our products are currently having an impact on our business which may continue for the foreseeable future. In addition, freight costs associated with shipping and receiving product are impacted by fluctuations in freight tonnage, freight hauler availability or capacity and the cost of oil and gas. We occasionally experience difficulty purchasing and obtaining timely delivery of certain raw materials required for our operations, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, to the extent we are unable to pass on the increased costs of raw materials, freight and labor to our customers, it could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
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We have invested substantial resources in markets where we expect growth and we may be unable to timely alter our strategies should such expectations not be realized.
Our future growth is dependent in part on us making the right investments at the right time in people, technology, product development, manufacturing capacity, and to expand into new markets including in electric vehicle markets. If we fail to realize expected rates of return on our investments, we may incur losses on such investments and be unable to timely redeploy the invested capital to take advantage of other markets, potentially resulting in lost market share to our competitors.
We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in leveraging our capabilities into new markets and thus, in meeting the needs of these new customers and competing favorably in these new markets.
Our inability to compete effectively in the highly competitive commercial vehicle component supply industry could result in lower prices for our products, loss of market share and reduced gross margins, which could have an adverse effect on our revenues and operating results.
The commercial vehicle component supply industry is highly competitive. Some of our competitors are companies that are larger and have greater financial and other resources than we do. In some cases, we compete with divisions of our OEM customers. Our products primarily compete on the basis of price, breadth of product offerings, product quality, technical expertise, development capability, product delivery and product service. Increased competition may lead to price reductions resulting in reduced gross margins and loss of market share.
We may be unable to successfully introduce new products and, as a result, our business, and financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Product innovations have been and will continue to be a part of our business strategy. We believe it is important for us to continue to meet our customers’ demands for product innovation, improvement and enhancement, including the continued development of new-generation products, and design improvements and innovations that improve the quality and efficiency of our products including manufacturing seats with airbags, seatbelts and other safety devices and improvements. However, such development will require us to continue to invest in research and development and sales and marketing. Such investments are subject to the risks generally associated with product development, including difficulty in gaining market acceptance, delays in product development and failure of products to operate properly. Additionally, we have exposure to excess costs as we are engaged in multiple development programs for new electric vehicles, each with unique designs and timelines. These electric vehicle programs require the use of a higher level of technical expertise with increased costs and the incremental cost is variable depending on the pace and success rate of the innovation process, the prototyping and mule build process, the production tooling process and then production ramp-up. In addition, our competitors may develop new products before us or may produce similar products that compete with our new products. We may, as a result of these factors, be unable to meaningfully focus on product innovation as a strategy and may therefore be unable to meet our customers’ demands for product innovation, which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
We rely on third parties for raw materials, parts, and components.
We source a variety of systems, components, raw materials and parts, including but not limited to top covers, fabricated steel, semiconductor chips, chemicals, seat-foam, air bag, air bag inflators, seat belts, and other components from third parties. From time to time these third-party items do not meet the quality standards that we desire, which could harm our reputation, cause delays and cause us to incur significant costs. Furthermore, we may be unable to source third-party items in sufficient quantities or at acceptable prices. We have recently experienced and may in the future experience difficulty sourcing certain raw materials, parts and components required for our operations, which has had and may in the future have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We could experience disruption in our supply or delivery chain, which could cause one or more of our customers to halt or delay production.
We, as with other component manufactures in the commercial vehicle industry, sometimes ship products to the customers throughout the world so they are delivered on a “just-in-time” basis in order to maintain low inventory levels. Our suppliers (external suppliers as well as our own production sites) also sometimes use a similar method. This just-in-time method makes the logistics supply chain in the industries we serve complex and vulnerable to disruptions.
The potential loss of one of our suppliers or our own production sites could be caused by a myriad of factors. Additionally, as we expand in growth markets, the risk for such disruptions is heightened. The lack of even a small single subcomponent necessary to manufacture one of our products, for whatever reason, could force us to cease production, possibly for a prolonged period. In the event of a reduction or stoppage in production at any of our facilities, even if only temporary, or if we experience delays as a result of events that are beyond our control, delivery times to our customers could be severely affected. Any
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significant delay in deliveries to our customers could lead to increased returns or cancellations. Similarly, a potential quality issue could force us to halt deliveries. Even where products are ready to be shipped or have been shipped, delays may arise before they reach our customer. Our customers may halt or delay their production for the same reason if one of their other suppliers fails to deliver necessary components. This may cause our customers to suspend their orders or instruct us to suspend delivery of our products, which may adversely affect our financial performance. When we cease timely deliveries, we have to absorb our own costs for identifying and solving the root cause problem as well as expeditiously producing replacement components or products. Generally, we must also carry the costs associated with “catching up,” such as overtime and premium freight.
Additionally, if we are the cause for a customer being forced to halt production the customer may seek to recoup all of its losses and expenses from us. These losses and expenses could include consequential losses such as lost profits. Thus, any supply chain disruption, however small, could potentially cause the complete shutdown of an assembly line of one of our customers, and any such shutdown could expose us to claims for compensation. Where a customer halts production because of another supplier failing to deliver on time, we may not be fully compensated, if at all, and therefore our business and financial results could be adversely affected.
In recent years, we experienced supply chain disruptions (including longer lead-times to procure parts from China) that caused volatility on our customers' production schedules and had a negative impact on our results.
If we are unable to recruit or retain senior management and other skilled personnel, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Our operations depend to a large extent on the efforts of our senior management team as well as our ability to attract, train, integrate and retain highly skilled personnel. We seek to develop and retain an effective management team through the proper positioning of existing key employees and the addition of new management personnel where necessary. Retaining personnel with the right skills at competitive wages can be difficult in certain markets in which we are doing business, particularly those locations that are seeing much inbound investment and have highly mobile workforces. Additionally, attracting sufficiently well-educated and talented management, especially middle-management employees, in certain markets can be challenging.
We may not be able to retain our current senior management and other skilled personnel or retain similarly skilled personnel in the future. If we lose senior management or the services of our skilled workforce, or if we are unable to attract, train, integrate and retain the highly skilled personnel we need, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected.
We may be adversely impacted by labor strikes, work stoppages and other matters.
As of December 31, 2024, a majority of employees based in Mexico are unionized. In addition, approximately 75% of our employees of our European, Asian and Australian operations were represented by a shop steward committee, which may limit our flexibility in our relationship with these employees. We may encounter future unionization efforts or other types of conflicts with labor unions or our employees.
Many of our OEM customers and their suppliers also have unionized work forces. Work stoppages or slow-downs experienced by OEMs or their other suppliers could result in slow-downs or closures of assembly plants where our products are included in assembled commercial vehicles. In the event that one or more of our customers or their suppliers experience a material work stoppage, such work stoppage could have an adverse effect on our business.
The Company has exposure to cost premiums as we use temporary labor during demand ramp-ups which carries with it a temporary premium cost.
Our earnings may be adversely affected by changes to the carrying values of our tangible and intangible assets as a result of recording any impairment charges deemed necessary.
We are required to perform impairment tests whenever events and circumstances indicate the carrying value of certain assets may not be recoverable. We cannot accurately predict the amount and timing of any impairment of assets. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indication of impairment exists. Factors that may be considered in assessing whether long-lived assets may not be recoverable include a decline in our stock price or market capitalization, reduced estimates of future cash flows, the general economic environment, changes or downturns in our industry as a whole, termination of any of our customer contracts, restructuring efforts and general workforce reductions. A continued decline in our stock price
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may trigger an evaluation of the recoverability of the recorded goodwill and other long-lived assets. Any charge for impairment could adversely affect our reported net income and our stockholders’ equity.
We have taken, are taking, and may take future restructuring actions to realign and resize our production capacity and cost structure to meet current and projected operational and market requirements. Charges related to these actions or any further restructuring actions may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. There can be no assurance that any current or future restructuring will be completed as planned or achieve the desired results. The failure to complete restructuring as planned could have an adverse effect our results of operations.
We have established and may establish in the future valuation allowances on deferred tax assets. These changes may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position.
Additionally, from time to time in the past, we have recorded asset impairment losses relating to specific plants and operations. Generally, we record asset impairment losses when we determine that our estimates of the future undiscounted cash flows from an operation will not be sufficient to recover the carrying value of that facility’s building, fixed assets and production tooling. There can be no assurance that we will not incur charges in the future as changes in economic or operating conditions impacting the estimates and assumptions could result in additional impairment. Any future impairments may adversely affect our results of operations.
Our inability to successfully achieve operational efficiencies could result in the incurrence of additional costs and expenses that could adversely affect our reported earnings.
As part of our business strategy, we continuously seek ways to lower costs, improve manufacturing efficiencies and increase productivity in our existing operations and intend to apply this strategy to those operations acquired through acquisitions. In addition, we incur restructuring charges periodically to close facilities, such as lease termination charges, severance charges and impairment charges of leasehold improvements and/or machinery and equipment, as we continue to evaluate our manufacturing footprint to improve our cost structure and remove excess, underperforming assets, or assets that no longer fit our goals. If we decide to close or consolidate facilities, we may face execution risks which could adversely affect our ability to serve our customers. Further, we may be unsuccessful in achieving these objectives which could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
The geographic profile of our taxable income could adversely impact our tax provision and therefore our results of operations.
Our future tax provision could be adversely affected by the geographic profile of our taxable income and by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities. Our results could be adversely impacted by significant changes in our effective tax rate. Additionally, any changes to manufacturing activities could result in significant changes to our effective tax rate related to products manufactured either in the United States or in international jurisdictions. If the United States or another international jurisdiction implements a tax change related to products manufactured in a particular jurisdiction where we do business, our results could be adversely affected.
Exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations on cross border transactions and translation of local currency results into United States dollars could adversely impact our results of operations.
Cross border transactions, both with external parties and intercompany relationships, result in increased exposure to foreign currency fluctuations. The strengthening or weakening of the United States dollar may result in favorable or unfavorable foreign currency translation effects in as much as the results of our foreign locations are translated into United States dollars. This could adversely impact our results of operations.
We have only limited protection for our proprietary rights in our intellectual property, which makes it difficult to prevent third parties from infringing upon our rights and our operations could be limited by the rights of others.
Our success depends to a certain degree on our ability to protect our intellectual property and to operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of third parties. While we have been issued patents and have registered trademarks with respect to many of our products, our competitors could independently develop similar or superior products or technologies, duplicate our designs, trademarks, processes or other intellectual property or design around any processes or designs on which we have or may obtain patents or trademark protection. In addition, it is possible third parties may have or acquire licenses for other technology or designs that we may use or desire to use, requiring us to acquire licenses to, or to contest the validity of, such patents or trademarks of third parties. Such licenses may not be made available to us on acceptable terms, if at all, or we may not prevail in contesting the validity of third party rights.
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As we diversify and globalize our geographic footprint, we may encounter laws and practices in emerging markets that are not as stringent or enforceable as those present in developed markets, and thus incur a higher risk of intellectual property infringement, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our products may be susceptible to claims by third parties that our products infringe upon their proprietary rights.
As the number of products in our target markets increases and the functionality of these products further overlaps, we may become increasingly subject to claims by a third party that our technology infringes such party’s proprietary rights. Regardless of their merit, any such claims could be time consuming and expensive to defend, may divert management’s attention and resources, could cause product shipment delays and could require us to enter into costly royalty or licensing agreements. If successful, a claim of infringement against us and our inability to license the infringed or similar technology and/or product could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
We may be subject to product liability claims, recalls or warranty claims, which could be expensive, damage our reputation and result in a diversion of management resources.
As a supplier of products and systems, we face an inherent business risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that our products, or the equipment into which our products are incorporated, malfunction and result in injury to person or property or death. Product liability claims could result in significant losses as a result of expenses incurred in defending claims or the award of damages.
In addition, we may be required to participate in recalls involving systems or components sold by us if any prove to be defective, or we may or our customers may voluntarily initiate a recall and we have to make payments related to such recalls as a result of various industry or business practices, contractual obligations or the need to maintain good customer relationships. Such a recall would result in a diversion of management resources. While we maintain product liability insurance generally with a self-insured retention amount, we cannot assure you that it will be sufficient to cover all product liability claims, that such claims will not exceed our insurance coverage limits or that such insurance will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Any product liability claim brought against us could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We warrant the workmanship and materials of many of our products under limited warranties and have entered into warranty agreements with certain customers that warranty certain of our products in the hands of customers of our customers, in some cases for many years. From time to time, we receive product warranty claims from our customers, pursuant to which we have or may be required to bear costs of repair or replacement of certain of our products. Accordingly, we are subject to risk of warranty claims in the event that our products do not conform to our customers’ specifications or, in some cases in the event that our products do not conform to their customers’ expectations. It is possible for warranty claims to result in costly product recalls, significant repair costs and damage to our reputation, all of which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our businesses are subject to statutory environmental and safety regulations in multiple jurisdictions, and the impact of any changes in regulation and/or the violation of any applicable laws and regulations by our businesses could result in an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to foreign, federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing the protection of the environment and occupational health and safety, including laws regulating air emissions, wastewater discharges, generation, storage, handling, use and transportation of hazardous materials; the emission and discharge of hazardous materials into the soil, ground or air; and the health and safety of our colleagues. We are also required to obtain permits from governmental authorities for certain of our operations. We cannot assure you that we are, or have been, in complete compliance with such environmental and safety laws, and regulations. Certain of our operations generate hazardous substances and wastes. If a release of such substances or wastes occurs at or from our properties, or at or from any offsite disposal location to which substances or wastes from our current or former operations were taken, or if contamination is discovered at any of our current or former properties, we may be held liable for the costs of cleanup and for any other response by governmental authorities or private parties, together with any associated fines, penalties or damages. In most jurisdictions, this liability would arise whether or not we had complied with environmental laws governing the handling of hazardous substances or wastes.
Several of our facilities are either certified as, or are in the process of being certified as ISO 9001, 14000, 14001 or TS16949 (the international environmental management standard) compliant or are developing similar environmental management systems. We have made, and will continue to make, capital and other expenditures to implement such environmental programs and comply with environmental requirements.
The environmental laws to which we are subject have become more stringent over time, and we could incur material costs or expenses in the future to comply with environmental laws. If we violate or fail to comply with these laws and regulations or do
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not have the requisite permits, we could be fined or otherwise sanctioned by regulators. In some instances, such a fine or sanction could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We may be unable to complete strategic acquisitions, or we may encounter unforeseen difficulties in integrating acquisitions.
We pursue acquisition targets that will allow us to continue to expand into new geographic markets, add new customers, provide new products, manufacturing and service capabilities and increase penetration with existing customers. However, we expect to face competition for acquisition candidates, which may limit the number of our acquisition opportunities and may lead to higher acquisition prices. Moreover, acquisition of businesses may require additional debt and/or equity financing, perhaps resulting in additional leverage and/or shareholder dilution. The covenants in our debt instruments further limit our ability to complete acquisitions. There can be no assurance we will find attractive acquisition candidates or successfully integrate acquired businesses into our existing business. If the expected synergies from acquisitions do not materialize or we fail to successfully integrate such new businesses into our existing businesses, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
A credit rating downgrade could impair our ability to obtain additional debt financing on favorable terms, if at all, and significantly reduce the trading price of our common stock.
We recently experienced a credit rating downgrade which is likely to affect the amount, type and terms of capital financings we obtain. Factors affecting our credit rating include, among others, our financial performance, success in raising sufficient equity capital, adverse changes in our debt and fixed charge coverage ratios, our capital structure, level of indebtedness and future changes in the regulatory framework applicable to our operators and industry. We may be unable to maintain our current credit ratings, and in the event that our current credit ratings deteriorate, a ratings agency downgrades our credit rating or places our rating under watch or review for possible downgrade, we would likely incur higher borrowing costs, which would make it more difficult or expensive to obtain additional financing or refinance existing obligations and commitments and the trading price of our common stock may decline.
The agreements governing our credit facilities contain covenants that may restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes in our business or to take certain actions. If we are unable to comply with these covenants, our business, results of operations and liquidity could be adversely affected.
Our senior secured revolving and term loan credit facilities require us to maintain certain financial ratios and to comply with various operational and other covenants. If we do not comply with those covenants, we are precluded from borrowing under the senior secured revolving credit facility, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and liquidity. If we are unable to borrow under our senior secured revolving credit facility, we will need to meet our capital requirements using other sources; however, alternative sources of liquidity may not be available on acceptable terms. In addition, if we fail to comply with the covenants set forth in our credit facilities, the lenders could declare an event of default and cause all amounts outstanding to be due and payable immediately. We cannot assure you that our assets or cash flow would be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under our outstanding credit facilities or other debt instruments we may have in place from time to time, either upon maturity or if accelerated, upon an event of default, or that we would be able to refinance or restructure the payments on the credit facilities or such other debt instruments on acceptable terms.
In addition, the agreements governing the senior secured revolving and term loan credit facilities contain covenants that, among other things, restrict our ability to:
•incur liens;
•incur or assume additional debt or guarantees or issue preferred stock;
•prepay, or make redemptions and repurchases of, subordinated debt;
•make loans and investments;
•engage in mergers, acquisitions, asset sales, sale/leaseback transactions and transactions with affiliates;
•place restrictions on the ability of subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other payments to the issuer;
•change the business conducted by us or our subsidiaries; and
•amend the terms of subordinated debt.
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Our indebtedness may adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to operate our business, remain in compliance with debt covenants and make payments on our indebtedness.
Our indebtedness, combined with our lease and other financial obligations and contractual commitments could have other important consequences to our stockholders, including:
•making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our indebtedness, including the revolving credit facility, term loan and our other debt instruments, and any failure to comply with the obligations of any of our debt instruments, including financial and other restrictive covenants, could result in an event of default under the revolving credit facility or term loan and the governing documents of our debt instruments;
•the possibility that we may be unable to generate cash sufficient to pay, when due, the principal of, interest on or other amounts due in respect of our indebtedness;
•making us more vulnerable to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions;
•require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flows to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
•limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate;
•placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt; and
•limiting our ability to borrow additional amounts for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, or execution of our business strategy or other purposes.
Any of these factors could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our ability to make payments on our indebtedness depends on our ability to generate cash in the future. If we do not generate sufficient cash flow to meet our debt service and working capital requirements, we may need to seek additional financing or sell assets. This may make it more difficult for us to obtain financing on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. Without any such financing, we could be forced to sell assets to make up for any shortfall in our payment obligations under unfavorable circumstances. If necessary, we may not be able to sell assets quickly enough or for sufficient amounts to enable us to meet our obligations.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Our operating results, revenues and expenses may fluctuate significantly from quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year, which could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
Our operating results, revenues and expenses have in the past varied and may in the future vary significantly from quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year. These fluctuations have in the past and could have in the future an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
We base our operating expense budgets in large part on expected revenue trends. However, certain of our expenses are relatively fixed and as such we may be unable to adjust expenses quickly enough to offset any unexpected revenue shortfall. Accordingly, any significant change in revenue may cause significant variation in operating results in any quarter or year.
It is possible that in one or more future quarters or years, our operating results may be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors and may result in changes in analysts’ estimates. In such events, the trading price of our common stock may be adversely affected.
Our common stock has historically had a low trading volume with limited analyst coverage and, as a result, any sale of a significant number of shares may depress the trading price of our stock; stockholders may be unable to sell their shares above the purchase price.
Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “CVGI.” The trading volume and analyst coverage of our common stock has historically been limited as compared to common stock of an issuer that has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on share prices. Because of the limited trading volume, holders of our securities may not be able to sell quickly any significant number of such shares, and any attempted sale of a large number of our shares may have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock. Additionally, because of the limited number of shares being traded, and changes in stock market analyst recommendations regarding our common stock or lack of analyst coverage, the price per share of our common stock is subject to volatility and may continue to be subject to rapid price swings in the future that may result in stockholders’ inability to sell their common stock at or above purchase price.
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Provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law could discourage potential acquisition proposals, could delay, deter or prevent a change in control and could limit the price certain investors might be willing to pay for our stock.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and by-laws may inhibit changes in control of our company not approved by our board of directors. These provisions include:
•a prohibition on stockholder action through written consents;
•a requirement that special meetings of stockholders be called only by the board of directors;
•advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations;
•limitations on the ability of stockholders to amend, alter or repeal the by-laws; and
•the authority of the board of directors to issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock and common stock with such terms as the board of directors may determine.
We are also afforded the protections of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which would prevent us from engaging in a business combination with a person who becomes a 15% or greater stockholder for a period of three years from the date such person acquired such status unless certain board or stockholder approvals were obtained. These provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, discourage potential acquisition proposals and delay, deter or prevent a change in control.
Other Risk Factors
Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information systems and expose us to liability, which could cause our business and reputation to suffer.
We rely on technology for the operation of our business. Systems failures or outages could compromise our ability to conduct business and hurt our relationships with our business partners and customers. In the event of a disaster, such as a natural catastrophe, a pandemic, civil unrest, an industrial accident, a cyber-attack, a blackout, a terrorist attack (including conventional, nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological) or war, systems upon which we rely may be inaccessible to our employees for an extended period of time. While technology can streamline many business processes and ultimately reduce the costs of operations, technology initiatives present short-term cost and also have implementation and operational risks. In addition, we may have inaccurate expense projections, implementation schedules or expectations regarding the effectiveness of the end product. These issues could escalate over time. If we were unable to find and retain associates with key technical knowledge, our ability to develop and deploy key technology solutions could be hampered.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, financial information, our proprietary business information and that of our customers, suppliers and business partners, and personally identifiable information of our customers and employees, in our data centers and on our networks. Threats to data security, including unauthorized access and cyberattacks, rapidly emerge and change, exposing us to additional costs for protection or remediation and competing time constraints to secure our data in accordance with customer expectations and statutory and regulatory requirements. The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. Like most companies, our systems are under attack on a routine basis. Our systems have been, and will likely continue to be, subject to viruses or other malicious codes, unauthorized access, cyber attacks, cyber frauds or other computer related penetrations. While we take what we believe to be commercially reasonable measures to keep our systems and data secure, it is difficult or impossible to defend against every risk being posed by changing technologies as well as criminal and state-sponsored cybercrime and cyber threats. While we are not aware of having experienced a material breach of our cybersecurity systems in the recent past, administrative, internal accounting and technical controls as well as other preventative actions may be insufficient to prevent security breaches to our systems or those of third parties with whom we do business. Increasing sophistication of cyber criminals and terrorists make keeping up with new threats difficult and could result in a breach. Patching and other measures to protect existing systems and servers could be inadequate, especially on systems that are being retired. Controls employed by our U.S., off-shore and cloud vendors could prove inadequate. We could also experience a breach by intentional or negligent conduct on the part of associates or other internal sources. Our systems and those of our third-party vendors may become vulnerable to damage or disruption due to circumstances beyond our or their control, such as from catastrophic events, power anomalies or outages, natural disasters, network failures, and viruses, ransomware and malware. Any such access, disclosure or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under laws that protect the privacy of personal information, regulatory penalties, disrupt our operations and the services we provide to customers, damage our reputation, and cause a loss of confidence in our products and services, which could adversely affect our business and our results of operations.
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Our implementation of a new ERP system may adversely affect our business and results of operations or the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
We are in the process of implementing a new enterprise resource planning ("ERP") system, as part of a plan to integrate and upgrade our systems and processes. ERP implementations are complex, labor intensive, and time-consuming projects and involve substantial expenditures on system software and implementation activities. The ERP system is critical to our ability to provide important information to our management, obtain and deliver products, provide services and customer support, fulfill contractual obligations, accurately maintain books and records, provide accurate, timely and reliable reports on our financial and operating results, and otherwise operate our business. ERP implementations also require transformation of business and financial processes in order for the company to benefit from a robust ERP system. Any such implementation involves risks inherent in the conversion to a new computer system, including, but not limited to, loss of information and potential disruption to our normal operations. The implementation and maintenance of the new ERP system has required, and will continue to require, the investment of significant financial and human resources, the re-engineering of processes of our business, and the attention of many employees who would otherwise be focused on other aspects of our business. Our results of operations could be adversely affected if we experience time delays or cost overruns during the ERP implementation process. Any significant weakness in the design and implementation of the new ERP system could also result in potentially significantly higher costs than we anticipate spending and could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and otherwise negatively impact our financial reporting and internal control. Any of these consequences could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Pandemics, epidemics, disease outbreaks and other public health crises have disrupted our business and operations, and future public health crises could materially adversely impact our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations.
Pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks in the U.S. or globally, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have previously disrupted, and may in the future disrupt, our business, which could materially affect our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and future expectations. Any such events may adversely impact our global supply chain and global manufacturing operations and cause us to suspend our operations in the affected markets. In particular, we could experience, among other things: (1) continued or additional global supply disruptions; (2) labor disruptions or shortages; (3) an inability to manufacture; (4) an inability to sell to our customers; (5) a decline in customer demand; and (6) an impaired ability to access credit and the capital markets. Any new public health crisis could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations going forward.
Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy
We recognize the importance of assessing, identifying, and managing material risks associated with cybersecurity threats, as such term is defined in Item 106(a) of Regulation S-K. These risks include, among other things: operational risks, intellectual property theft, fraud, extortion, harm to employees or customers and violation of data privacy or security laws.
Identifying and assessing cybersecurity risk is integrated into our overall risk management systems and processes. Cybersecurity risks related to our business, technical operations, privacy and compliance issues are identified and addressed through a multi-faceted approach including third party assessments, internal IT Audit, IT security, governance, risk and compliance reviews. To defend, detect and respond to cybersecurity incidents, we, among other things: conduct proactive privacy and cybersecurity reviews of systems and applications, audit applicable data policies, perform penetration testing using external third-party tools and techniques to test security controls, conduct employee training, monitor emerging laws and regulations related to data protection and information security and implement appropriate changes.
Security events and data incidents are evaluated, ranked by severity and prioritized for response and remediation. Incidents are evaluated to determine materiality as well as operational and business impact, and reviewed for privacy impact.
Cybersecurity risks are evaluated when determining the selection and oversight of applicable third-party service provider risks when handling and/or processing our employee, business or customer data. In addition to new vendor onboarding, we perform risk management during third-party cybersecurity compromise incidents to identify and mitigate risks to us from third-party incidents.
We describe whether and how risks from identified cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our business strategy, results of
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operations, or financial condition, under the heading “Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information systems and expose us to liability, which could cause our business and reputation to suffer” included as part of our risk factor disclosures at Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Cybersecurity Governance
Cybersecurity is an important part of our risk management processes and an area of focus for our Board and management. Our Audit Committee is responsible for the oversight of risks from cybersecurity threats.Members of the Audit Committee receive updates periodically from senior management regarding matters of cybersecurity. This includes existing and new cybersecurity risks, status on how management is addressing and/or mitigating those risks, cybersecurity and data privacy incidents (if any) and status on key information security initiatives. Our Board members also engage in ad hoc conversations with management on cybersecurity-related news events and discuss any updates to our cybersecurity risk management and strategy programs.
Our cybersecurity risk management and strategy processes are overseen by our CFO and CLO. These individuals are informed about, and monitor the prevention, mitigation, detection and remediation of cybersecurity incidents through their management of, and participation in, the cybersecurity risk management and strategy processes described above, including the operation of our incident response plan, and report to the Audit Committee on any appropriate items.
Item 2.Properties
Our corporate office is located in New Albany, Ohio. Several of our facilities are located near our OEM customers to reduce distribution costs, reduce risk of interruptions in our delivery schedule, further improve customer service and provide our customers with reliable delivery of products and services. We have five owned and 22 leased principal facilities. We consider our properties to generally be in good condition, well maintained, and suitable and adequate to meet our business requirements for the foreseeable future. We do not anticipate difficulty in renewing existing leases as they expire or in finding alternative facilities. Our owned domestic facilities are subject to liens securing our obligations under our revolving credit facility and term loan credit facility as described in Note 3, Debt, to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Utilization of our facilities varies with North American, European, Asian and Australian commercial vehicle production and general economic conditions in the regions. All locations are principally used for manufacturing, assembly, distribution or warehousing, except for our New Albany, Ohio and Chihuahua, Mexico facilities, which are principally administrative offices, and the research and development facility in Phoenix, AZ.
Item 3.Legal Proceedings
We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims arising in the ordinary course of business, including, but not limited to, product liability claims, customer and supplier disputes, service provider disputes, examinations by taxing authorities, employment disputes, workers’ compensation claims, unfair labor practice charges, OSHA investigations, intellectual property disputes and environmental claims arising out of the conduct of our businesses. Based upon the information available to management and discussions with legal counsel, it is the opinion of management that the ultimate outcome of the various legal actions and claims that are incidental to our business are not expected to have a material adverse impact on the consolidated financial position, results of operations, stockholders' equity or cash flows; however, such matters are subject to many uncertainties and the outcomes of individual matters are not predictable with any degree of assurance.
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
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Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “CVGI.”
As of March 14, 2025, there were approximately 138 holders of record of our outstanding common stock.
We have not declared or paid any dividends to the holders of our common stock in the past and do not anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future payment of dividends is within the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend upon, among other factors, the capital requirements, operating results and financial condition of CVG.
The following graph compares the cumulative five-year total return to holders of CVG’s common stock to the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Composite Index, our Legacy Peer Group, and New Peer Group. The composition of our Legacy Peer Group and our New Peer Group are discussed below. The graph assumes that the value of the investment in the Company’s common stock, in the legacy peer group, in the new peer group, and the index (including reinvestment of dividends) was $100 on December 31, 2019 and tracks it through December 31, 2024.
The legacy peer group includes Altra Industrial Motion Corp., American Railcar Industries Inc., ASTEC Industries Inc., Columbus McKinnon Corp., Dorman Products Inc., EnPro Industries, Federal Signal Corp., Freightcar America Inc., Gentherm Inc., L.B. Foster Company, LCI Industries, Modine Manufacturing, Shiloh Industries, Spartan Motors Inc., Standard Motor Products Inc., Stoneridge Inc., and Supreme Industries (the "Legacy Peer Group"). Shiloh Industries was purchased by MiddleGround Capital LLC and is reported as part of the peer group only through 2020.
The new peer group includes Altra Industrial Motion Corp., ASTEC Industries Inc., Blue Bird Corp., Columbus McKinnon Corp., Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc., EnPro Industries, Federal Signal Corp., Gentherm Inc., L.B. Foster Company, Modine Manufacturing, Motorcar Parts of America, Inc., Myers Industries, Inc., NN Inc., Standard Motor Products Inc., Stoneridge Inc., Superior Industries International Inc., The Shyft Group Inc., and Wabash National Corp (the "New Peer Group").
The information in the graph and table above is not “solicitation material”, is not deemed “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not to be incorporated by reference in any of our filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as
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amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date of this annual report, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate such information by reference.
We did not repurchase any of our common stock on the open market during 2024. Our employees surrendered 117,701 shares of our common stock in 2024 to satisfy tax withholding obligations on the vesting of restricted stock awards issued under our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan. The following table sets forth information in connection with purchases made by, or on behalf of, us or any affiliated purchaser, of shares of our common stock during the period ended December 31, 2024:
No other shares were surrendered during the year ended December 31, 2024.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
We did not sell any equity securities during 2024 that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Item 6.[Reserved]
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Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
You should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction with the information set forth in our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in Item 8 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The statements in this discussion regarding industry outlook, our long-term strategy, our expectations regarding our future performance, liquidity and capital resources and other non-historical statements in this discussion are forward-looking statements. See “Forward-Looking Information” on page ii of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described under “Item 1A - Risk Factors.” Our actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements.
Business Overview
CVG is a global provider of systems, assemblies and components to the global commercial vehicle market, and the electric vehicle markets. We deliver real solutions to complex design, engineering and manufacturing problems while creating positive change for our customers, industries, and communities we serve.
We have manufacturing operations in the United States, Mexico, China, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Morocco, Thailand, India and Australia. Our products are primarily sold in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
We primarily manufacture customized products to meet the requirements of our customer. We believe our products are used by a majority of the North American Commercial Truck markets, many construction and agriculture vehicle OEMs, parts and service dealers and distributors.
Commercial Trends in the Vehicle Solutions and Aftermarket & Accessories Segments
Demand for our products may be driven by preferences of the end-user of the vehicle, particularly with respect to heavy-duty trucks in North America. Heavy-duty truck OEMs generally dictate the specifications of component parts that will be used to manufacture the vehicle, including a wide variety of cab interior styles and colors, brand and type of seats, type of seat fabric and color, and interior styling. Certain of our products are only utilized in heavy-duty trucks, such as our storage systems, sleeper boxes and privacy curtains. To the extent that demand for higher content vehicles increases or decreases, our revenues and gross profit will be impacted positively or negatively.
Current trends include future adoption of electric vehicles in the commercial truck segment. Commercial truck makers are developing electric models of all classes of trucks and buses in their fleets. This has created an increased number of platform opportunities relative to historical trends of platform changes. The Company competes to retain its existing positions on platforms that are getting refreshed, competitively win new positions on platforms on which it is not the incumbent supplier, and gain first fit positions on new Electric Vehicle platforms. The global truck market is evolving to include many offerings aimed at low emissions and less impact on the environment.
In general, demand for our heavy-duty (or "Class 8") truck products is generally dependent on the number of new heavy-duty trucks manufactured in North America, which in turn is a function of general economic conditions, supply chain constraints, interest rates, changes in government regulations, consumer spending, fuel costs, freight costs, fleet operators' financial health and access to capital, used truck prices and our customers’ inventory levels. New heavy-duty truck demand has historically been cyclical and is particularly sensitive to the industrial sector of the economy, which generates a significant portion of the freight tonnage hauled by commercial vehicles.
North American heavy-duty truck production was 332,382 units in 2024. According to a February 2025 report by ACT Research, a publisher of industry market research, North American Class 8 production levels are expected to decrease to 316,000 units in 2025. ACT Research estimated that the average age of active North American Class 8 trucks was 5.8 years in 2024. As vehicles age, maintenance costs typically increase. ACT Research forecasts that the vehicle age will decline as aging fleets are replaced.
North American medium-duty (or "Class 5-7") truck production was 274,135 units in 2024. According to a February 2025 report by ACT Research, North American Class 5-7 truck production is expected to decrease to 226,000 units in 2025. We primarily participate in the class 6 and 7 portion of the medium-duty truck market.
Commercial Trends in the Electrical Systems Segment
Demand for our Electrical Systems products, such as wire harnesses, is primarily driven by construction and agriculture equipment vehicle production. Demand for new vehicles in the global construction and agriculture equipment market generally follows certain economic conditions around the world. Our products are primarily used in the medium- and heavy-duty construction and agriculture equipment market (vehicles weighing over 12 metric tons). Demand in the medium- and heavy-
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duty construction and agriculture equipment market is typically related to the level of large scale infrastructure development projects, such as highways, dams, harbors, hospitals, airports and industrial development, as well as activity in the mining, forestry and commodities industries.
Other Key Developments
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company amended its credit agreement in the second and fourth quarters. On July 30, 2024, the Company entered into Amendment No. 3, to the Credit Agreement. Amendment No. 3 amended the terms of the existing Credit Agreement to limit the mandatory prepayment requirements for certain specified asset dispositions of the Company and certain of its subsidiaries. The Company repaid $20 million in accordance with Amendment No.3 during the three months ended September 30, 2024. On December 19, 2024, the Company entered into Amendment No. 4 to its Credit Agreement. Amendment No. 4 reduced the existing term loan facility to $85 million in aggregate principal amount, reduced the revolving credit facility commitments by $25 million to an aggregate of $125 million in revolving credit facility commitments, and revised the covenant calculation including increasing the maximum consolidated total leverage ratio to 4.25:1.0 (which will be subject to step-downs to 3.75:1.0 at the end of the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2025; and to 3.00:1.0 for each fiscal quarter thereafter).
On July 31, 2024, the Company and SVO, LLC ("Buyer") entered into a purchase agreement pursuant to which the Company would sell substantially all of the assets of the Company's business of manufacturing and assembling structured products, including cabs for medium and heavy-duty vehicles, at its facility in Kings Mountain, North Carolina (the cab structures business). On September 6, 2024, the Company and Buyer entered into an amendment to the purchase agreement whereby the transaction closed on September 6, 2024 with the Buyer paying the Company $20 million of the $40 million purchase price. Pursuant to the amended purchase agreement, the parties agreed (i) that the remaining $20 million of the purchase price would be paid on October 1, 2024, (ii) that the assigned contracts and the employees of Seller would transfer to Buyer on October 1, 2024, and (iii) the inventory would be valued as of October 1, 2024, for purposes of determining any adjustment to the purchase price.The Company received the remaining portion of the purchase price on October 1, 2024. The net proceeds of the transaction were approximately $40 million. The Company used the proceeds for debt paydown and other general corporate purposes. The Company recorded an after-tax gain on the sale of the business of approximately $28.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024.
On October 30, 2024, the Company entered into a purchase agreement to sell its First Source Electronics (FSE) business with operations in Elkridge, Maryland for approximately $1.5 million, with a note in the amount of $0.5 million and earn out potential of an additional $1.5 million subject to certain criteria. The Elkridge facility is the primary manufacturing facility of the Company's Industrial Automation segment. CVG recorded an estimated after-tax loss on the contemplated sale of the Industrial Automation business of approximately $7.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024.
The cab structures and Industrial Automation segment divestitures represent a strategic shift in CVG's business and, in accordance with U.S. GAAP, qualified as discontinued operations. As a result, the operating results and cash flows related to the cab structures business and Industrial Automation segment have been reflected as discontinued operations in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Additionally, the results of operations in this section include retrospective changes for discontinued operations. See Note 17, Discontinued Operations, for additional information on the divestitures.
Certain indirect corporate costs included within the selling, general and administrative expense caption of the Consolidated Statements of Operations that were previously allocated to the Kings Mountain facility and Industrial Automation segment do not qualify for classification within discontinued operations and are now reported as selling, general and administrative expense within continuing operations on a consolidated basis and within the Corporate and other segment.
Subsequent to December 31, 2024, the Company announced a new organizational structure designed to enhance alignment with its customers and end markets, effective January 1, 2025. Under this new structure, CVG will reorganize its vertical business units into the following three operating divisions and reporting segments: Global Electrical Systems, Global Seating, Trim Systems and Components. As part of this realignment, the Company’s Aftermarket & Accessories business unit will be absorbed in these three segments. Its seating and electrical portfolio will transition to Global Seating and Global Electrical Systems, respectively. Its wiper systems will become part of the newly formed Trim Systems and Components business unit in addition to the trim and components businesses from the prior Vehicle Solutions segment.
Our Long-term Strategy
The Company's long-term strategy is to increase our sales, profits and shareholder value by growing our Electrical Systems segment to be our largest business while financially optimizing its core legacy businesses, organically growing in targeted areas, strengthening our product portfolio, increasing our margins and evaluating opportunities to add to our businesses through a focused M&A program. The Company expects to diversify its revenue and profits by product, customer, platform, and end market with a goal of becoming less cyclical and less customer concentrated while strengthening / enhancing current positions,
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entering new markets, developing relationships with new customers, and enhancing service to our customers, leading to increased return to our stockholders. Our products include electrical wire harnesses, seating systems, plastic components, mirrors, wipers and other accessories.
We have a long-term strategy to globally optimize our cost structure through manufacturing process enhancements, low cost footprint and global sourcing. We periodically evaluate our short-term and long-term strategies and may adjust actions in response to changes in our business environment and other factors including but not limited to, implementing restructuring as needed.
CONSOLIDATED RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The table below sets forth certain operating data expressed as a percentage of revenues for the twelve months ended (dollars are in thousands):
Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2023
Consolidated Results
The table below sets forth certain consolidated operating data for thetwelve months ended indicated (dollars are in thousands):
1.Not meaningful
Revenues. The decrease in consolidated revenues resulted from:
•a $104.6 million, or 15.0%, decrease in sales to OEM and a decrease in other revenues; and
•a $7.5 million, or 5.5%, decrease in aftermarket and OES sales.
The decrease in revenues of 13.4% was primarily driven by a softening in customer demand across all segments, and the wind-down of certain programs in our Vehicle Solutions segment.
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Gross Profit. Included in gross profit is cost of revenues, which consists primarily of raw materials and purchased components for our products, wages and benefits for our employees and overhead expenses such as manufacturing supplies, facility rent and utilities costs related to our operations. The decrease in gross profit is primarily attributable to the impact of lower sales volumes, unfavorable mix, and increased restructuring charges. Cost of revenues decreased $64.1 million, or 9.0% as a result of a decrease in raw material and purchased component costs of $54.9 million, or 12.6%; a decrease in wages and benefits of $6.9 million, or 9.9%; and a decrease in overhead expenses of $2.3 million, or 1.1%. As a percentage of revenues, gross profit margin was 10.1% for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 14.5% for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses consist primarily of wages and benefits and other expenses such as marketing, travel, legal, audit, rent and utilities costs, which are not directly or indirectly associated with the manufacturing of our products. SG&A expenses decreased $7.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily as a result of the gain on the sale of a building of $3.5 million and reduced incentive compensation expense, partially offset by an increase in salary expense and consulting spend during the 2024 period. As a percentage of revenues, SG&A expense was 10.2% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 compared to 9.7% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023.
Other (Income) Expense. Other income increased $3.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023 due primarily to transition service fees of $3.2 million recognized during the year ended December 31, 2024 which supported the transition of discontinued operations transactions as well as favorable change in foreign currency of $0.5 million.
Interest Expense. Interest associated with our debt was $9.2 million and $10.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The decrease primarily related to lower average debt balances, partially offset by higher interest rates on variable rate debt during the respective comparative periods.
Loss on extinguishment of debt. On December 19, 2024, the Company refinanced its long-term debt, which resulted in a loss of $0.5 million, including a $0.3 million non-cash write off relating to deferred financing costs of the Term loan facility due 2027 and $0.2 million of other associated fees.
Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes. Income tax expense of $27.5 million and income tax benefit of $15.2 million were recorded for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The period over period change in income tax was primarily attributable to the $36.7 million decrease in pre-tax income versus the prior year period which led to establishing a full valuation allowance on our U.S. deferred tax assets of $28.8 million in 2024. During 2023 the Company reversed the $22.0 million valuation allowance on our U.S. deferred tax assets that was established in 2022.
In 2021, as part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's ("OECD") Inclusive Framework, 140 member countries agreed to the implementation of the Pillar Two Global Minimum Tax ("Pillar Two") of 15%. The OECD continues to release additional guidance, including administrative guidance on how Pillar Two rules should be interpreted and applied by jurisdictions as they adopt Pillar Two. These changes, when enacted by various countries in which we do business, may increase our taxes in these countries. Changes to these and other areas in relation to international tax reform, including future actions taken by foreign governments in response to Pillar Two, could increase uncertainty and may adversely affect our tax rate and cash flow in future years. We continue to evaluate the potential impacts of Pillar Two through current and pending legislative adoption by individual countries.
Net Income (Loss) from continuing operations. Net loss from continuing operations was $35.7 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 compared to net income from continuing operations of $43.6 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in net income from continuing operations is attributable to the factors noted above.
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Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2022
Consolidated Results
The table below sets forth certain consolidated operating data for the periods indicated (dollars are in thousands):
1.Not meaningful
Revenues. The increase in consolidated revenues resulted from:
•a $47.6 million, or 7.3%, increase in sales to OEM and other revenues; and
•a $5.2 million, or 4.0%, increase in aftermarket and OES sales.
The increase in revenues was primarily driven by increased pricing and increased sales volume from the Electrical Systems business, offset by lower sales volume in the Vehicle Solutions segments.
Gross Profit. Included in gross profit is cost of revenues, which consists primarily of raw materials and purchased components for our products, wages and benefits for our employees and overhead expenses such as manufacturing supplies, facility rent and utilities costs related to our operations. The increase in gross profit is primarily attributable to price increases with customers and cost reduction initiatives. Cost of revenues increased $16.8 million, or 2.4% as a result of an increase in overhead expenses of $16.5 million, or 8.5%; an increase in wages and benefits of $4.2 million, or 6.4%; and offset by a decrease in raw material and purchased component costs of $3.9 million, or 0.9%. As a percentage of revenues, gross profit margin was 14.5% for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 10.9% for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses consist primarily of wages and benefits and other expenses such as marketing, travel, legal, audit, rent and utilities costs, which are not directly or indirectly associated with the manufacturing of our products. SG&A expenses increased $21.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily due to increased employee salaries, incentive compensation, recruitment costs, travel spending and professional services. As a percentage of revenues, SG&A expense was 9.7% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 compared to 7.7% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022.
Other (Income) Expense. Other expense decreased $9.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 due primarily to the settlement of the Company's U.S. Pension Plan liabilities of $9.2 million completed during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Interest Expense. Interest associated with our debt was $10.2 million and $9.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase primarily related to higher interest rates on variable rate debt, offset by lower average debt balances during the respective comparative periods.
Loss on extinguishment of debt. On May 12, 2022, the Company refinanced its long-term debt, which resulted in a loss of $0.9 million, including a $0.6 million non-cash write off relating to deferred financing costs of the Term loan facility due 2026 and $0.3 million of other associated fees.
Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes. Income tax benefit of $15.2 million and expense of $20.9 million were recorded for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The period over period change in income tax was primarily attributable to the reversal of $22.0 million valuation allowance on our U.S. deferred tax assets during 2023 versus the 2022 establishment of a full valuation allowance on our U.S. deferred tax assets of $24.5 million, offset by the reversal of a $9.9 million valuation allowance on our United Kingdom (U.K.) deferred tax asset.
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SEGMENT RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Vehicle Solutions Segment Results
Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2023 and Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2022
The table below sets forth certain Vehicle Solutions Segment operating data for the twelve months ended, (dollars are in thousands):
Revenues. The decrease in Vehicle Solutions Segment revenues in 2024 of $65.8 million from 2023 primarily resulted from lower sales volume due to decreased customer demand and the wind-down of certain programs. The decrease in 2023 revenues of $0.4 million from 2022 primarily resulted from increased pricing which more than offset lower sales volume.
Gross Profit. The decrease in 2024 gross profit of $20.1 million from 2023 was primarily due to lower sales volume, restructuring activities and increased freight costs, and a decrease in cost of revenues driven by a decrease in raw material and purchased component costs of $29.0 million, or 11.2%; a decrease in overhead expenses of $12.8 million, or 10.4%; and a decrease in wages and benefits of $3.8 million, or 13.4%. The increase in 2023 gross profit of $16.3 million from 2022 was primarily due to price increases with customers and cost reduction initiatives including lower freight costs, lower startup costs, and improved manufacturing efficiencies..
As a percentage of revenues, gross profit for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, was 9.7% and 12.6%, respectively. The decrease in gross profit in 2024 from 2023 was primarily due to lower sales volume, restructuring activities and increased freight costs. The twelve months ended December 31, 2024 results include charges of $4.5 million associated with the restructuring program. The increase in gross profit in 2023 from 2022 was primarily due to price increases with customers and cost reduction initiatives including lower freight costs, lower startup costs, and improved manufacturing efficiencies.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. The decrease in 2024 SG&A expenses of $4.8 million from 2023 was primarily a result of the gain on the sale of a building of $3.5 million. The twelve months ended December 31, 2024 results include charges of $1.4 million associated with the restructuring program. The increase in 2023 SG&A expenses of $2.6 million from 2022 was primarily due to an increase in system implementation costs and employee benefit costs including salaries and incentive compensation expenses.
Electrical Systems Segment Results
Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2023 and Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2022
The table below sets forth certain Electrical Systems Segment operating data for the twelve months ended, (dollars are in thousands):
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Revenues. The decrease in Electrical Systems segment revenues in 2024 of $38.8 million from 2023 is primarily attributable to lower sales volume driven by global softness in Construction & Agriculture end-markets. The increase in 2023 revenues of $48.0 million from 2022 is primarily attributable to sales volume and increased pricing to offset material cost pass-through and other inflationary items.
Gross Profit. The decrease in 2024 gross profit of $24.7 million from 2023 was primarily attributable to lower sales volume, restructuring activities, labor inflation and unfavorable foreign exchange impacts. Cost of revenues decreased in line with the revenues, decrease of 17.0%, driven by a decrease in raw material and purchased component costs of $16.6 million, or 15.6%; a decrease in wages and benefits of $4.1 million, or 12.3%; offset by an increase in overhead expenses of $6.6 million, or 12.3%. The increase in 2023 gross profit of $11.4 million from 2022 was primarily attributable to volume leverage and increased pricing to offset material cost pass-through and other inflationary items.
As a percentage of revenues, gross profit for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, was 5.6% and 15.5%, respectively. The decrease in 2024 gross profit margin was primarily due to lower sales volume, restructuring activities, labor inflation, and unfavorable foreign exchange impacts. The twelve months ended December 31, 2024 results include charges of $3.7 million associated with the restructuring program. The increase in 2023 gross profit margin was primarily due to volume leverage and increased pricing, more than offsetting inflationary items.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. 2024 SG&A expenses increased $1.1 million from 2023, primarily driven by increased salaries. The increase of $3.3 million in 2023 from 2022, was primarily a result of increased headcount and incentive adjustments based on performance.
Aftermarket & Accessories Segment Results
Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2023 and Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2022
The table below sets forth certain Aftermarket & Accessories Segment operating data for the twelve months ended, (dollars are in thousands):
Revenues. The decrease in Aftermarket & Accessories segment revenues in 2024 of $7.5 million from 2023 was driven by lower sales volume due to a decreased customer demand and the reduction of backlog in the prior period. The increase in 2023 revenues of $5.2 million from 2022 resulted from increased pricing to offset material cost pass-through and other inflationary items.
Gross Profit. The decrease in 2024 gross profit of $3.2 million from 2023 is primarily due to the lower sales volume. Cost of revenues decrease is driven by a decrease in raw material and purchased component costs of $9.3 million, or 13.4%; offset by an increase in overhead expenses of $4.0 million, or 12.2%; and an increase in wages and benefits of $1.0 million, or 12.3%. The increase in 2023 gross profit of $8.1 million from 2022 is primarily due to increased pricing to offset material cost inflation and other inflationary items and cost reduction initiatives.
As a percentage of revenues, gross profit for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, was 18.0% and 19.3%, respectively. The decrease in 2024 gross profit margin is primarily due to lower sales volume and restructuring related expenses. The twelve months ended December 31, 2024 results include charges of $0.9 million associated with the restructuring program. The increase in 2023 gross profit margin is primarily due to increased pricing offsetting moderating cost inflation and cost reduction initiatives including lower freight costs.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. SG&A expenses increased by $0.2 million in 2024 compared to 2023. The increase in 2023 SG&A expenses of $1.2 million from 2022, is primarily driven by commissions expense increase and is consistent with the prior year on a percent of sales basis.
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Liquidity and Capital Resources
At December 31, 2024, the Company had $50.5 million borrowings under its revolving credit facility. At December 31, 2024, the Company had liquidity of $111.0 million, including $26.6 million of cash and $84.4 million availability from its U.S. and China credit facilities.
We intend to allocate resources consistent with the following priorities: (1) invest in growth; (2) invest in operational improvements; (3) manage working capital; (4) reduce debt; and (5) other actions deemed appropriate by management to improve operational performance.
Our primary sources of liquidity during the year ended December 31, 2024 were proceeds from divestitures, cash and availability under our credit facility. We believe that these sources of liquidity will provide adequate funds for our working capital needs, capital expenditures and debt service throughout the next twelve months. However, no assurance can be given that this will be the case. We also rely on the timely collection of receivables as a source of liquidity. As of December 31, 2024, we had outstanding letters of credit of $1.1 million and borrowing availability of $84.4 million from our U.S. and China credit facilities.
As of December 31, 2024, cash of $26.6 million was held by foreign subsidiaries. The Company had a $0.1 million deferred tax liability as of December 31, 2024 for the expected future income tax implications of repatriating cash from the foreign subsidiaries for which indefinite reinvestment is not expected.
Covenants and Liquidity
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company amended its credit agreement in the second and fourth quarters. On July 30, 2024, the Company entered into Amendment No. 3, to the Credit Agreement. Amendment No. 3 amended the terms of the existing Credit Agreement to limit the mandatory prepayment requirements for certain specified asset dispositions of the Company and certain of its subsidiaries. The Company repaid $20 million in accordance with Amendment No.3 during the three months ended September 30, 2024. On December 19, 2024, the Company entered into Amendment No. 4 to its credit agreement. Amendment No. 4 reduced the existing term loan facility to $85 million in aggregate principal amount, reduced the revolving credit facility commitments by $25 million to an aggregate of $125 million in revolving credit facility commitments, and revised the covenant calculation including increasing the maximum consolidated total leverage ratio to 4.25:1.0 (which will be subject to step-downs to 3.75:1.0 at the end of the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2025; and to 3.00:1.0 for each fiscal quarter thereafter).
Our ability to comply with the covenants in the credit agreement, as discussed in Note 3, Debt, may be affected by economic or business conditions beyond our control. Based on our current forecast, we believe that we will be able to maintain compliance with the financial maintenance covenants and the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant and other covenants in the credit agreement for the next twelve months; however, no assurances can be given that we will be able to comply. We base our forecasts on historical experience, industry forecasts and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. If actual results are substantially different than our current forecast, we may not be able to comply with our financial covenants.
Cash Flows
(In thousands)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities $ (33,452) $ 38,276 $ 68,947
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities 30,896 (19,696) (19,710)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (7,122) (12,729) (50,091)
Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash (1,540) 172 (2,279)
Operating activities. For the year ended December 31, 2024, net cash used in operations was $33.5 million compared to net cash provided by operations of $38.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. Net cash used in operating activities is primarily attributable to a lower net income from continuing and discontinued operations, including cash used to support restructuring programs for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 as compared to higher net income offset by an increase in working capital for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023.
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Investing activities. Net cash provided by investing activities was $30.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to net cash used in investing activities of $19.7 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, primarily due to $45.0 million proceeds from sale of the Company's cab structures, Industrial Automation segment and FinishTEK businesses during the current period and $4.5 million proceeds from the sale of a building. In 2025, we expect capital expenditures to be in the range of $15 million to $20 million.
Financing activities. For the year ended December 31, 2024, net cash used in financing activities was $7.1 million compared to $12.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 is primarily attributable to $56.6 million term loan repayment, offset by an increase of $50.5 million in borrowings under the revolving credit facility. The Company's term loan repayments included $20.0 million in accordance with Amendment No.3 and $30.0 million in accordance with Amendment No. 4. to its Credit Agreement. The increase in borrowings under the revolving credit facility were related to funding the $30.0 million term loan repayment and to fund working capital.
Debt and Credit Facilities
The debt and credit facility summaries described in Note 3, Debt, to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are incorporated in this section by reference.
Contractual Obligations and Commercial Commitments
The following table reflects our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2024 (in thousands):
Payments Due by Period
Total 1 Year 2-3 Years 4-5 Years More than5 Years
(In thousands)
We estimated future interest payments based on the effective interest rate as of December 31, 2024. Since December 31, 2024, there have been no material changes outside the ordinary course of business to our contractual obligations as set forth above.
Generally, we enter into agreements with our customers at the beginning of a given vehicle platform’s life to supply products for the entire life of that vehicle platform. These agreements generally provide for the supply of a customer’s production requirements for a particular platform rather than for the purchase of a specific quantity of products. The obligations under these agreements and regulations are not reflected in the contractual obligations table above.
As of December 31, 2024, we were not a party to significant purchase obligations for goods or services.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). For a comprehensive discussion of our significant accounting policies, see Note 1, Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis, particularly relating to accounts receivable reserves, inventory reserves, intangible and long-lived assets, income taxes, warranty reserves, litigation reserves and pension and other post-retirement benefit plans. We base our estimates on historical experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets, liabilities and equity that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results and outcomes could differ materially from these estimates and assumptions. See Item 1A - Risk Factors in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding risk factors that may impact our estimates.
Revenue Recognition — We recognize revenue when our performance obligation has been satisfied and control of products has been transferred to a customer, which typically occurs upon shipment. Revenue is measured based on the amount of
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consideration we expect to receive in exchange for the transfer of goods or services. We enter into agreements with certain customers in the Vehicle Solutions segment at the beginning of a vehicle platform’s life to supply products for that vehicle platform. Once we enter into such agreements, fulfillment of our requirements is our obligation for the entire production life of the platform. Such contracts typically contain restrictive provisions related to termination. Management judgments and estimates must be made in estimating sales returns and allowances relating to revenue recognized in a given period.
Inventory — Inventories are valued at the lower of first-in, first-out cost or net realizable value. Cost includes applicable material, labor and overhead. We value our finished goods inventory at a standard cost that is periodically adjusted to approximate actual cost. Inventory quantities on-hand are regularly reviewed, and where necessary, provisions for excess and obsolete inventory are recorded based primarily on our estimated production requirements driven by expected market volumes.
Income Taxes — We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in our financial statements or tax returns. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax laws and rates expected to be in place when the deferred tax items are realized. We recognize tax positions initially in the financial statements when it is more likely than not the position will be sustained upon examination by the tax authorities. Judgment is required in estimating valuation allowances for deferred tax assets. The realization of a deferred tax asset ultimately depends on the existence of sufficient taxable income in either the carryback or carryforward periods under tax law. We provide a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that a portion of such deferred tax assets will not be realized. In our assessment, appropriate consideration is given to all positive and negative evidence related to the realization of the deferred tax assets. This assessment considers, among other matters, (1) the cumulative three-year income position, (2) the nature, frequency and severity of any current and cumulative losses; (3) forecasts of future profitability; (4) the duration of statutory carryforward periods; (5) our experience with operating loss and tax credit carryforwards not expiring unused, and (6) tax planning alternatives. As of December 31, 2024, the Company was in a cumulative three-year taxable loss position in the U.S. which was given the most weight in our analysis of all positive and negative evidence when determining whether to establish a valuation allowance. As of December 31, 2023, the Company was in a cumulative three-year taxable income position in the U.S. which was given the most weight in our analysis of all positive and negative evidence when determining whether to reverse the previously recognized valuation allowance.
Item 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We are exposed to various market risks, including changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. Market risk is the potential loss arising from adverse changes in market rates and prices, such as foreign currency exchange and interest rates. We do not enter into derivatives or other financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. We enter into financial instruments, from time to time, to manage the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates and to hedge a portion of future anticipated currency transactions. The counterparties are primarily major financial institutions.
Interest Rate Risk
We manage our interest rate risk by balancing the amount of our fixed rate and variable rate debt. To manage its exposure to variable interest rates in a cost-efficient manner, the Company enters into interest rate swaps in which the Company agrees to exchange, at specified intervals, the difference between fixed and variable interest amounts calculated by reference to an agreed-upon notional principal amount. The Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement to fix the interest rate on approximately 50% of the outstanding Term Loan Facility, which was an initial aggregate amount of $87.5 million thereby reducing exposure to interest rate changes. A change in our variable interest rate of 100 basis points for a full twelve-month period would have an approximate $0.7 million impact on interest expense assuming approximately 50% of our average fiscal 2024 variable-rate term loan debt had not been hedged via an interest rate swap agreement.
Foreign Currency Risk
A portion of our revenues during the year ended December 31, 2024 were derived from manufacturing operations outside of the U.S. The results of operations and the financial position of our operations in these other countries are primarily measured in their respective currency and translated into U.S. Dollars. A portion of the expenses incurred in these countries is in currencies different from which revenue is generated. As discussed above, from time to time, we enter into forward exchange contracts to mitigate a portion of this currency risk. The reported income of these operations will be higher or lower depending on a weakening or strengthening of the U.S. Dollar against the respective foreign currency.
A portion of our long-term assets and liabilities at December 31, 2024 are based in our foreign operations and are translated into U.S. Dollars at foreign currency exchange rates in effect as of the end of each period with the effect of such translation reflected as a separate component of stockholders’ equity. Accordingly, our stockholders’ investment will fluctuate depending upon the
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weakening or strengthening of the U.S. Dollar against the respective foreign currency. The principal currencies of exposure are the Mexican Peso, Chinese Yuan, British Pound, Euro, Czech Koruna, Australian Dollar, Indian Rupee, Thai Baht, Ukrainian Hryvnia and Moroccan Dirham.
Refer to Note 5, Fair Value Measurement, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Form 10-K for discussion of these market risks and the derivatives used to manage these risks.
Effects of Inflation
Inflation potentially affects us in two principal ways. First, borrowings under our revolving credit facility are tied to prevailing short-term interest rates that may change as a result of inflation rates, translating into changes in interest expense. Second, general inflation can impact material purchases, labor, and pension liabilities. In many cases, we have limited ability to pass through inflation-related cost increases due to the competitive nature of the markets that we serve.
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Item 8.Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Documents Filed as Part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm 35
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 39
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 42
Supplementary Financial Information 70
Item 15 - Exhibits 81
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors
Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc.:
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements