Acquisitions	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Business Combinations [Abstract]
Acquisitions	Acquisitions ERA Mining Machinery Limited (Siwei) During the second quarter of 2012, Caterpillar, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.A. (CAT Lux), completed a tender offer to acquire the issued shares of ERA Mining Machinery Limited (Siwei), including its wholly-owned subsidiary Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical Manufacturing Co., Ltd. In the fourth quarter of 2013, Siwei was renamed Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd. The tender offer allowed Siwei shareholders to choose between two types of consideration in exchange for their shares. The alternatives were either cash consideration or a loan note issued by CAT Lux to the former shareholders of Siwei. Approximately 4 billion Siwei shares were tendered for the cash alternative and approximately 1.6 billion Siwei shares were tendered for the loan note alternative. In May 2013, Caterpillar and its wholly-owned subsidiaries CAT Lux and Siwei entered into a settlement agreement with two former directors of Siwei and two other parties with an interest in the settlement, including Mining Machinery Limited (MML). The agreement settles the dispute between the parties which arose from Caterpillar's determination that Siwei senior managers had engaged in accounting misconduct for several years prior to Caterpillar's announcement of the completion of its tender offer for Siwei in the second quarter of 2012. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the parties agreed that (i) the loan notes issued by CAT Lux (and guaranteed by Caterpillar) as a portion of the Siwei purchase price and held by MML and (ii) loans made by the two former Siwei directors to Siwei prior to its acquisition by Caterpillar would all be canceled and discharged in exchange for payments by CAT Lux to MML and the two former directors in an aggregate amount of approximately $30 million. As of the settlement in May 2013, the loan notes had a book value of approximately $152 million and the obligation related to the loans by the two former directors was approximately $13 million. The settlement agreement contains a mutual release and discharge of the parties' respective claims with respect to the dispute and contains an agreement by Caterpillar and CAT Lux not to pursue any such claims against either the auditors or former directors of Siwei. The settlement and discharge of the loan obligations resulted in the recognition of a gain of approximately $135 million reported in Other operating (income) expenses in the Consolidated Statement of Results of Operations and is included in the Resource Industries segment.

Acquisitions

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

ERA Mining Machinery Limited (Siwei)

During the second quarter of 2012, Caterpillar, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.A. (CAT Lux), completed a tender offer to acquire the issued shares of ERA Mining Machinery Limited (Siwei), including its wholly-owned subsidiary Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical Manufacturing Co., Ltd. In the fourth quarter of 2013, Siwei was renamed Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd. The tender offer allowed Siwei shareholders to choose between two types of consideration in exchange for their shares. The alternatives were either cash consideration or a loan note issued by CAT Lux to the former shareholders of Siwei. Approximately 4 billion Siwei shares were tendered for the cash alternative and approximately 1.6 billion Siwei shares were tendered for the loan note alternative.

In May 2013, Caterpillar and its wholly-owned subsidiaries CAT Lux and Siwei entered into a settlement agreement with two former directors of Siwei and two other parties with an interest in the settlement, including Mining Machinery Limited (MML). The agreement settles the dispute between the parties which arose from Caterpillar's determination that Siwei senior managers had engaged in accounting misconduct for several years prior to Caterpillar's announcement of the completion of its tender offer for Siwei in the second quarter of 2012.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the parties agreed that (i) the loan notes issued by CAT Lux (and guaranteed by Caterpillar) as a portion of the Siwei purchase price and held by MML and (ii) loans made by the two former Siwei directors to Siwei prior to its acquisition by Caterpillar would all be canceled and discharged in exchange for payments by CAT Lux to MML and the two former directors in an aggregate amount of approximately $30 million. As of the settlement in May 2013, the loan notes had a book value of approximately $152 million and the obligation related to the loans by the two former directors was approximately $13 million. The settlement agreement contains a mutual release and discharge of the parties' respective claims with respect to the dispute and contains an agreement by Caterpillar and CAT Lux not to pursue any such claims against either the auditors or former directors of Siwei. The settlement and discharge of the loan obligations resulted in the recognition of a gain of approximately $135 million reported in Other operating (income) expenses in the Consolidated Statement of Results of Operations and is included in the Resource Industries segment.