Financing Activities (Details 2) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Receivables [Abstract]
Period after which unpaid installments are considered as past due	30 days
Period after which collection of future income is considered as not probable	120 days
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	$ 259	$ 206
61-90 Days Past Due	127	73
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	423	421
Total Past Due	809	700
Current	28,070	27,883
Total gross finance receivables	28,879	28,583
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	47	31
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	511	513
North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	10,827	10,271
Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	3,740	3,539
Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	4,852	5,293
Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	2,203	1,974
Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	4,058	4,323
Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	3,199	3,183
Customer
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	20,338	19,883
Customer | North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	26	35
61-90 Days Past Due	6	8
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	29	52
Total Past Due	61	95
Current	6,077	5,889
Total gross finance receivables	6,138	5,984
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	1	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	37	59
Customer | Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	32	23
61-90 Days Past Due	13	9
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	39	36
Total Past Due	84	68
Current	2,553	2,487
Total gross finance receivables	2,637	2,555
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	12	6
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	38	38
Customer | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	80	53
61-90 Days Past Due	29	19
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	59	54
Total Past Due	168	126
Current	3,277	3,354
Total gross finance receivables	3,445	3,480
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	14	18
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	45	36
Customer | Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	3	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	1
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	12	12
Total Past Due	15	13
Current	2,183	1,960
Total gross finance receivables	2,198	1,973
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	12	12
Customer | Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	66	62
61-90 Days Past Due	33	19
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	173	138
Total Past Due	272	219
Current	2,459	2,500
Total gross finance receivables	2,731	2,719
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	197	148
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	10	15
61-90 Days Past Due	40	14
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	109	126
Total Past Due	159	155
Current	3,030	3,017
Total gross finance receivables	3,189	3,172
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	18	4
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	182	220
Dealer
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	5,305	5,586
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	0	0
Dealer | North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	2,941	2,931
Total gross finance receivables	2,941	2,931
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Dealer | Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	635	652
Total gross finance receivables	635	652
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Dealer | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	1	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	1	0
Current	725	945
Total gross finance receivables	726	945
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Dealer | Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	5	1
Total gross finance receivables	5	1
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Dealer | Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	997	1,057
Total gross finance receivables	997	1,057
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Dealer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	1	0
Total gross finance receivables	1	0
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	3,236	3,114
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	16	17
61-90 Days Past Due	2	3
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	2
Total Past Due	18	22
Current	1,730	1,334
Total gross finance receivables	1,748	1,356
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	2
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	6	1
61-90 Days Past Due	3	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	2	0
Total Past Due	11	1
Current	457	331
Total gross finance receivables	468	332
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	2	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	19	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	19	0
Current	662	868
Total gross finance receivables	681	868
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	0	0
Total gross finance receivables	0	0
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	330	547
Total gross finance receivables	330	547
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	1	0
Greater than 91 Days Past Due	0	1
Total Past Due	1	1
Current	8	10
Total gross finance receivables	9	11
Greater than 91, Still Accruing	$ 0	$ 1