Financing Activities (Details 2) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Customer
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	$ 682	$ 575	$ 641
Unpaid Principal Balance	670	557	626
Related Allowance	73	56	79
Average Recorded Investment	640	682	604
Interest Income Recognized	15	22	23
Customer | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With No Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	378	326	283
Unpaid Principal Balance	377	317	281
Related Allowance	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	332	345	152
Interest Income Recognized	6	12	2
Customer | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With An Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	304	249	358
Unpaid Principal Balance	293	240	345
Related Allowance	73	56	79
Average Recorded Investment	308	337	452
Interest Income Recognized	9	10	21
Customer | North America
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	75	152	278
Unpaid Principal Balance	70	144	272
Related Allowance	10	15	44
Average Recorded Investment	108	233	310
Interest Income Recognized	4	9	13
Customer | North America | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With No Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	28	83	87
Unpaid Principal Balance	27	80	87
Related Allowance	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	50	91	39
Interest Income Recognized	3	4	2
Customer | North America | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With An Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	47	69	191
Unpaid Principal Balance	43	64	185
Related Allowance	10	15	44
Average Recorded Investment	58	142	271
Interest Income Recognized	1	5	11
Customer | Europe
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	85	83	68
Unpaid Principal Balance	82	79	61
Related Allowance	14	12	15
Average Recorded Investment	88	61	92
Interest Income Recognized	3	2	4
Customer | Europe | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With No Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	45	47	6
Unpaid Principal Balance	45	46	4
Related Allowance	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	45	11	7
Interest Income Recognized	1	0	0
Customer | Europe | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With An Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	40	36	62
Unpaid Principal Balance	37	33	57
Related Allowance	14	12	15
Average Recorded Investment	43	50	85
Interest Income Recognized	2	2	4
Customer | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	37	17	32
Unpaid Principal Balance	37	17	32
Related Allowance	8	3	7
Average Recorded Investment	30	22	40
Interest Income Recognized	2	1	3
Customer | Asia/Pacific | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With No Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	2	4	5
Unpaid Principal Balance	2	4	5
Related Allowance	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	3	5	6
Interest Income Recognized	0	0	0
Customer | Asia/Pacific | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With An Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	35	13	27
Unpaid Principal Balance	35	13	27
Related Allowance	8	3	7
Average Recorded Investment	27	17	34
Interest Income Recognized	2	1	3
Customer | Mining
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	24	21	8
Unpaid Principal Balance	24	21	8
Related Allowance	5	4	0
Average Recorded Investment	46	14	9
Interest Income Recognized	2	1	0
Customer | Mining | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With No Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	1	8	8
Unpaid Principal Balance	1	8	8
Related Allowance	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	8	8	3
Interest Income Recognized	0	1	0
Customer | Mining | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With An Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	23	13	0
Unpaid Principal Balance	23	13	0
Related Allowance	5	4	0
Average Recorded Investment	38	6	6
Interest Income Recognized	2	0	0
Customer | Latin America
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	50	34	47
Unpaid Principal Balance	50	34	46
Related Allowance	12	6	9
Average Recorded Investment	49	48	44
Interest Income Recognized	2	3	3
Customer | Latin America | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With No Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	7	9	3
Unpaid Principal Balance	7	9	3
Related Allowance	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	6	9	5
Interest Income Recognized	0	1	0
Customer | Latin America | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With An Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	43	25	44
Unpaid Principal Balance	43	25	43
Related Allowance	12	6	9
Average Recorded Investment	43	39	39
Interest Income Recognized	2	2	3
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	411	268	208
Unpaid Principal Balance	407	262	207
Related Allowance	24	16	4
Average Recorded Investment	319	304	109
Interest Income Recognized	2	6	0
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With No Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	295	175	174
Unpaid Principal Balance	295	170	174
Related Allowance	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	220	221	92
Interest Income Recognized	2	6	0
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance | Impaired Loans and Finance Leases With An Allowance Recorded
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	116	93	34
Unpaid Principal Balance	112	92	33
Related Allowance	24	16	4
Average Recorded Investment	99	83	17
Interest Income Recognized	0	0	0
Dealer
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	0	0	19
Dealer | Europe
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Average Recorded Investment			19
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables
Financing Receivable, Impaired
Recorded Investment	0	0	0
Average Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0