Business Segment and Geographic Region Information Business Segment and Geographic Region Information (Details 1) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 14,396	$ 5,537	$ 5,454
Other intangible assets	6,779	2,192	2,272
Total assets	35,848	17,873	17,252
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	593	568	394
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	381	367	369
Electrical Americas [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill	2,677	2,043
Total assets	1,480	1,364	1,272
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	87	65	59
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	54	53	55
Electrical Rest of World [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill	1,188	981
Total assets	1,531	1,531	1,630
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	51	52	49
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	55	58	56
Cooper [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill	7,725	0
Total assets	2,867	0	0
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	17	0	0
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	11	0	0
Hydraulics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill	1,404	1,116
Total assets	1,427	1,265	1,080
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	60	70	45
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	61	54	52
Aerospace [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill	1,045	1,040
Total assets	806	754	726
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	27	21	21
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	26	26	25
Truck [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill	149	150
Total assets	819	920	866
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	69	80	59
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	66	74	76
Automotive [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Goodwill	208	207
Total assets	879	863	904
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	79	92	61
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	70	73	77
All Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets	9,809	6,697	6,478
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	390	380	294
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	343	338	341
Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets	4,864	3,447	3,048
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	203	188	100
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	$ 38	$ 29	$ 28