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Legal Actions
Information about ongoing legal actions is typically disclosed in the annual report. An examination of Cummins' Form 10-K from 2008 reveals that while the company is subject to a wide range of legal risks, there are no major legal actions pending. Referring to environment-related legal actions, the company states that "we do not believe that these lawsuits are material individually or in the aggregate."
Negative Publicity
At present, there is little indication that Cummins is faced with any significant negative publicity. The company faces some minor environmental lawsuits, which may not be financial material but could generate some negative publicity should the company be found culpable for any impropriety.
Cummins' track record with regards to negative publicity -- or the lack thereof -- is enviable for a multinational country, in particular one with manufacturing operations overseas. Cummins' approach has been proactive. There are hints of the company's approach in its stated core values and in its vision statement, which contains two lines about corporate leadership.
Competitors
Cummins has a variety of competitors in its core industries. In engines, Cummins competes against Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel Corporation and Navistar. Detroit Diesel is a private corporation and does not publish financial statements. Navistar is around the same size as Cummins, with $11.57 billion in sales, compared with $10.8 billion at Cummins. Caterpillar has sales of $36.22 billion, but operates many more business lines. Its engine business is smaller than that of Cummins. According to the 2008 Form 10-K, other engine competitors are Volvo Powertrain, International Truck and Engine Corporation, Mercedes Benz, Volvo, Renault, Scania, Weichai Power Co, Nissan Diesel, Yanmar and Deutz.
In power generation, Cummins competes against Tognum and Mitsubishi primarily, as well as FG Wilson, Kohler, SDMO and Generac. In the components segment, Cummins competes with a variety of different firms around the world, including Donaldson, Clarcor, Mann + Hummel Group, Tokyo Roki, Borg-Warner, Bosch, Tenneco and Honeywell. While each of the first three operating groups compete against other large players in a global environment, the distribution...
Financial Performance: Caterpillar Caterpillar, the preeminent leader in the manufacture and supplier of earth moving equipment is the quintessential growth success story in the rapid economic globalization of the past three decades. Caterpillar's growth engine relies not just on the stable and dependability of the developed G-8 economies, but also in the inchoate opportunities presented by rapidly increasing developing economies such as Brazil, China, and South Africa. The Caterpillar narrative is
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