Guarantees and Product Warranty

We have provided an indemnity to a third-party insurance company for potential losses related to performance bonds issued on behalf of Caterpillar dealers. The bonds are issued to insure governmental agencies against nonperformance by certain dealers. We also provided guarantees to a third-party related to the performance of contractual obligations by certain Caterpillar dealers. The guarantees cover potential financial losses incurred by the third-party resulting from the dealers’ nonperformance.

We provide loan guarantees to third-party lenders for financing associated with machinery purchased by customers. These guarantees have varying terms and are secured by the machinery. In addition, Cat Financial participates in standby letters of credit issued to third parties on behalf of their customers. These standby letters of credit have varying terms and beneficiaries and are secured by customer assets.

Cat Financial has provided a limited indemnity to a third-party bank resulting from the assignment of certain leases to that bank. The indemnity is for the possibility that the insurers of these leases would become insolvent. The indemnity expires December 15, 2012 and is unsecured.

We have provided guarantees to third-party lessors for certain properties leased by Cat Logistics Services, LLC, in which we sold a 65 percent equity interest in the third quarter of 2012. See Note 19 for further discussion on this divestiture. The guarantees are for the possibility that the third party logistics business would default on real estate lease payments. The guarantees were granted at lease inception, which was prior to the divestiture, and generally will expire at the end of the lease terms.

No loss has been experienced or is anticipated under any of these guarantees. At September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the related liability was $17 million and $7 million, respectively. The increase in the liability is primarily due to guarantees acquired through the purchase of ERA Mining Machinery Limited, as well as guarantees resulting from the divestiture of the third party logistics business. The maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted and without reduction for any amounts that may possibly be recovered under recourse or collateralized provisions) we could be required to make under the guarantees are as follows:



(Millions of dollars)	September 30, 2012		December 31, 2011
Guarantees with Caterpillar dealers	$	167	$	140
Guarantees with customers	176		186
Limited indemnity	1		11
Guarantees for third party logistics business	182		—
Guarantees – other	44		28
Total guarantees	$	570	$	365

Cat Financial provides guarantees to repurchase certain loans of Caterpillar dealers from a special-purpose corporation (SPC) that qualifies as a variable interest entity. The purpose of the SPC is to provide short-term working capital loans to Caterpillar dealers. This SPC issues commercial paper and uses the proceeds to fund its loan program. Cat Financial has a loan purchase agreement with the SPC that obligates Cat Financial to purchase certain loans that are not paid at maturity. Cat Financial receives a fee for providing this guarantee, which provides a source of liquidity for the SPC. Cat Financial is the primary beneficiary of the SPC as their guarantees result in Cat Financial having both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the SPC’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses, and therefore Cat Financial has consolidated the financial statements of the SPC. As of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the SPC’s assets of $940 million and $586 million, respectively, are primarily comprised of loans to dealers and the SPC’s liabilities of $940 million and $586 million, respectively, are primarily comprised of commercial paper. The assets of the SPC are not available to pay Cat Financial's creditors. Cat Financial may be obligated to perform under the guarantee if the SPC experiences losses. No loss has been experienced or is anticipated under this loan purchase agreement.

Our product warranty liability is determined by applying historical claim rate experience to the current field population and dealer inventory. Generally, historical claim rates are based on actual warranty experience for each product by machine model/engine size. Specific rates are developed for each product build month and are updated monthly based on actual warranty claim experience.



(Millions of dollars)	2012
Warranty liability, January 1	$	1,308
Reduction in liability (payments)	(672		)
Increase in liability (new warranties)	813
Warranty liability, September 30	$	1,449



(Millions of dollars)	2011
Warranty liability, January 1	$	1,035
Reduction in liability (payments)	(926		)
Increase in liability (new warranties)	1,199
Warranty liability, December 31	$	1,308