Guarantees and product warranty

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2010

Guarantees and product warranty

Guarantees and product warranty

20.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.

No loss has been experienced or is anticipated under any of these guarantees. At December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, the related liability was $10 million, $17 million and $14 million, respectively. 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 at December 31 are as follows:

(Millions of dollars)	2010		2009		2008
Caterpillar dealer guarantees	$	185	$	313	$	375
Customer guarantees	170		226		136
Limited indemnity	17		20		25
Other guarantees	48		64		43
Total guarantees	$	420	$	623	$	579

We provide guarantees to repurchase certain loans of Caterpillar dealers from a special purpose corporation (SPC) that qualifies as a VIE.  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.  We have a loan purchase agreement with the SPC that obligates us to purchase certain loans that are not paid at maturity.  We receive a fee for providing this guarantee, which provides a source of liquidity for the SPC.  We are the primary beneficiary of the SPC as our guarantees result in us 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 we have consolidated the financial statements of the SPC.  As of December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, the SPC’s assets of $365 million, $231 million and $477 million, respectively, are primarily comprised of loans to dealers, and the SPC’s liabilities of $365 million, $231 million and $477 million, respectively, are primarily comprised of commercial paper.  No loss has been experienced or is anticipated under this loan purchase agreement.  Our assets are not available to pay creditors of the SPC, except to the extent we may be obligated to perform under the guarantee, and assets of the SPC are not available to pay our creditors.

Cat Financial is party to agreements in the normal course of business with selected customers and Caterpillar dealers in which we commit to provide a set dollar amount of financing on a pre-approved basis.  We also provide lines of credit to selected customers and Caterpillar dealers, of which a portion remains unused as of the end of the period.  Commitments and lines of credit generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses. It has been our experience that not all commitments and lines of credit will be used. Management applies the same credit policies when making commitments and granting lines of credit as it does for any other financing.

Cat Financial does not require collateral for these commitments/lines, but if credit is extended, collateral may be required upon funding.  The amount of the unused commitments and lines of credit for dealers as of December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 was $6,408 million, $7,312 million and $8,918 million, respectively.  The amount of the unused commitments and lines of credit for customers as of December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 was $2,613 million, $2,089 million and $3,085 million, respectively.

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)	2010			2009			2008
Warranty liability, January 1	$	1,049		$	1,201		$	1,045
Reduction in liability (payments)	(855		)	(1,032		)	(1,074		)
Increase in liability (new warranties)	841			880			1,230
Warranty liability, December 31	$	1,035		$	1,049		$	1,201

The 2009 provision includes approximately $181 million for changes in estimates for pre-existing warranties due to higher than expected actual warranty claim experience.  These amounts for 2010 and 2008 were not significant.