Cat Financial Financing Activities (Details 2) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Receivables [Abstract]
Period after which Unpaid Installments are Considered as Past Due (in days)	30 days
Period after which collection of future income is considered as not probable (in days)	120 days
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	$ 235	$ 229
61-90 Days Past Due	119	105
91+ Days Past Due	412	349
Total Past Due	766	683
Current	23,640	23,378
Total Finance Receivables	24,406	24,061
91+ Still Accruing	70	22
North America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	9,014	8,864
Europe
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,028	3,025
Asia Pacific
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,453	3,471
Mining
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	2,204	2,144
Latin America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,599	3,466
Caterpillar Power Finance
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,108	3,091
Customer
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	20,603	20,296
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	385	425
Customer | North America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	38	37
61-90 Days Past Due	14	12
91+ Days Past Due	30	24
Total Past Due	82	73
Current	6,620	6,508
Total Finance Receivables	6,702	6,581
91+ Still Accruing	1	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	29	26
Customer | Europe
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	31	26
61-90 Days Past Due	19	15
91+ Days Past Due	35	29
Total Past Due	85	70
Current	2,786	2,805
Total Finance Receivables	2,871	2,875
91+ Still Accruing	6	6
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	31	28
Customer | Asia Pacific
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	54	54
61-90 Days Past Due	28	23
91+ Days Past Due	91	59
Total Past Due	173	136
Current	2,680	2,752
Total Finance Receivables	2,853	2,888
91+ Still Accruing	35	11
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	57	50
Customer | Mining
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	0	3
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
91+ Days Past Due	11	12
Total Past Due	11	15
Current	2,193	2,128
Total Finance Receivables	2,204	2,143
91+ Still Accruing	0	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	21	23
Customer | Latin America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	85	54
61-90 Days Past Due	39	25
91+ Days Past Due	143	165
Total Past Due	267	244
Current	2,598	2,474
Total Finance Receivables	2,865	2,718
91+ Still Accruing	4	5
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	165	179
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	27	55
61-90 Days Past Due	19	30
91+ Days Past Due	102	60
Total Past Due	148	145
Current	2,960	2,946
Total Finance Receivables	3,108	3,091
91+ Still Accruing	24	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	82	119
Dealer
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,803	3,765
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	0	0
Dealer | North America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	2,312	2,283
Total Finance Receivables	2,312	2,283
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Europe
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	157	150
Total Finance Receivables	157	150
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Asia Pacific
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	600	583
Total Finance Receivables	600	583
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Mining
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due		0
Current		1
Total Finance Receivables	0	1
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Latin America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	734	748
Total Finance Receivables	734	748
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	$ 0	$ 0