Financials (10-K): Part I – Title Page and Cautionary Statement

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

OR

Commission file number 1-12387

TENNECO INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:  (847) 482-5000
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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

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

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

      Note — Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act from their obligations under those Sections.

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

     Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.      ✔   

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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). Yes             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):

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

     State 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, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter.

* Based upon the closing sale price on the New York Stock Exchange Composite Tape for the Common Stock on June 30, 2010.

      INDICATE THE NUMBER OF SHARES OUTSTANDING OF EACH OF THE REGISTRANT'S CLASSES OF COMMON STOCK, AS OF THE LATEST PRACTICABLE DATE. Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, 60,265,974 shares outstanding as of February 21. 2011.

Documents Incorporated by Reference:

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR PURPOSES OF THE “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE
PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning, among other things, our prospects and business strategies. These forward-looking statements are included in various sections of this report, including the section entitled "Outlook" appearing in Item 7 of this report. The words "may," "will," "believe," "should," "could," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," and similar expressions (and variations thereof), identify these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, these expectations may not prove to be correct. Because these forward-looking statements are also subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements include:

• General economic, business and market conditions, including without limitation any deterioration in the global economic environment, including the potential impact thereof on labor unrest, supply chain disruptions, weakness in demand and the collectability of any accounts receivable due to us;

• Our ability to source and procure needed materials, components and other products and services in accordance with customer demand and at competitive prices;

• Changes in capital availability or costs, including increases in our cost of borrowing (i.e., interest rate increases), the amount of our debt, our ability to access capital markets at favorable rates, and the credit ratings of our debt;

• Changes in consumer demand, prices and our ability to have our products included on top selling vehicles, including any shifts in consumer preferences away from light trucks, which tend to be higher margin products for our customers and us, to other lower margin vehicles, for which we may or may not have supply contracts, and other factors impacting the cyclicality of automotive and commercial vehicle production and the sales of such vehicles which include our products, and the potential negative impact on our revenues and margins from such products;

• Changes in automotive and commercial vehicle manufacturers' production rates and their actual and forecasted requirements for our products, such as the significant production cuts during 2008 and 2009 by automotive manufacturers in response to difficult economic conditions;

• The overall highly competitive nature of the automobile and commercial vehicle parts industry, and any resultant inability to realize the sales represented by our awarded book of business (which is based on anticipated pricing and volumes for the applicable program over its life, and is subject to increases or decreases due to changes in customer requirements, customer and consumer preferences, and the number of vehicles actually produced by customers);

• Tthe loss of any of our large original equipment manufacturer ("OEM") customers (on whom we depend for a substantial portion of our revenues), or the loss of market shares by these customers if we are unable to achieve increased sales to other OEMs;

• Industrywide strikes, labor disruptions at our facilities or any labor or other economic disruptions at any of our significant customers or suppliers or any of our customers' other suppliers (such as the 2008 strike at American Axle, which disrupted our supply of products for significant General Motors platforms);

• Increases in the costs of raw materials, including our ability to successfully reduce the impact of any such cost increases through materials substitutions, cost reduction initiatives, low cost country sourcing, and price recovery efforts with aftermarket and OE customers;

• Tthe cyclical nature of the global vehicle industry, including the performance of the global aftermarket sector and the longer product lives of vehicle parts;

• Our ability to successfully execute cash management, restructuring and other cost reduction plans and to realize anticipated benefits from these plans;

• Costs related to product warranties and other customer satisfaction actions;

• The impact of consolidation among vehicle parts suppliers and customers on our ability to compete;

• Changes in distribution channels or competitive conditions in the markets and countries where we operate, including the impact of changes in distribution channels for aftermarket products on our ability to increase or maintain aftermarket sales;

• The negative impact of higher fuel prices on transportation and logistics costs, raw material costs and discretionary purchases of vehicles or aftermarket products;

• The cost and outcome of existing and any future legal proceedings, including, but not limited to, proceedings against us or our customers relating to intellectual property rights;

• Economic, exchange rate and political conditions in the countries where we operate or sell our products;

• Customer acceptance of new products;

• New technologies that reduce the demand for certain of our products or otherwise render them obsolete;

• Our ability to realize our business strategy of improving operating performance;

• Our ability to successfully integrate any acquisitions that we complete and effectively manage our joint ventures and other third-party partnerships;

• Changes by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or the Securities and Exchange Commission of authoritative generally accepted accounting principles or policies;

• Changes in accounting estimates and assumptions, including changes based on additional information;

• Potential legislation, regulatory changes and other governmental actions, including the ability to receive regulatory approvals and the timing of such approvals, as well as any changes by International Standards Organization (ISO), Technical Specifications (TS) and other such committees in their certification processes for processes and products, which may have the effect of delaying or hindering our ability to bring new products to market;

• The impact of changes in and compliance with laws and regulations, including environmental laws and regulations, which may result in our incurrence of environmental liabilities in excess of the amount reserved, the adoption of the current mandated timelines for worldwide emission regulation, which could impact the demand for certain of our products, and any changes to the timing of the funding requirements for our pension and other postretirement benefit liabilities;

• Decisions by federal, state and local governments to provide (or discontinue) incentive programs related to automobile or other vehicle purchases;

• The potential impairment in the carrying value of our long-lived assets and goodwill or our deferred tax assets;

• Potential volatility in our effective tax rate;

• Acts of war and/or terrorism, as well as actions taken or to be taken by the United States and other governments as a result of further acts or threats of terrorism, and the impact of these acts on economic, financial and social conditions in the countries where we operate; and

• The timing and occurrence (or non-occurrence) of other transactions, events and circumstances which may be beyond our control.

The risks included here are not exhaustive. Refer to "Part I, Item 1A — Risk Factors" of this report for further discussion regarding our exposure to risks. Additionally, new risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all such risk factors, nor to assess the impact such risk factors might have on our business or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results.