Financing Activities (Details 2) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
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	$ 257	$ 258
61-90 Days Past Due	124	134
91 Plus Days Past Due	469	353
Total Past Due	850	745
Current	29,630	28,357
Total gross finance receivables	30,480	29,102
91 Plus, Still Accruing	53	25
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	473	425
North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	12,314	11,201
Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	4,009	3,871
Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	4,485	4,508
Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	2,139	2,148
Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	4,337	4,274
Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	3,196	3,100
Customer
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	21,647	20,756
Customer | North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	34	37
61-90 Days Past Due	9	12
91 Plus Days Past Due	31	24
Total Past Due	74	73
Current	6,926	6,522
Total gross finance receivables	7,000	6,595
91 Plus, Still Accruing	5	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	27	26
Customer | Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	45	26
61-90 Days Past Due	25	15
91 Plus Days Past Due	35	29
Total Past Due	105	70
Current	2,860	2,805
Total gross finance receivables	2,965	2,875
91 Plus, Still Accruing	10	6
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	30	28
Customer | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	67	55
61-90 Days Past Due	33	46
91 Plus Days Past Due	94	59
Total Past Due	194	160
Current	3,195	3,174
Total gross finance receivables	3,389	3,334
91 Plus, Still Accruing	16	11
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	80	50
Customer | Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	4	3
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	12	12
Total Past Due	16	15
Current	2,119	2,128
Total gross finance receivables	2,135	2,143
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	26	23
Customer | Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	68	54
61-90 Days Past Due	46	25
91 Plus Days Past Due	164	165
Total Past Due	278	244
Current	2,692	2,474
Total gross finance receivables	2,970	2,718
91 Plus, Still Accruing	2	5
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	192	179
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	13	55
61-90 Days Past Due	0	30
91 Plus Days Past Due	130	60
Total Past Due	143	145
Current	3,045	2,946
Total gross finance receivables	3,188	3,091
91 Plus, Still Accruing	17	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	118	119
Dealer
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	5,471	5,254
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
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	3,352	3,034
Total gross finance receivables	3,352	3,034
91 Plus, 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
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	539	569
Total gross finance receivables	539	569
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0
Dealer | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	696	706
Total gross finance receivables	696	706
91 Plus, 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
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	4	5
Total gross finance receivables	4	5
91 Plus, 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
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	880	940
Total gross finance receivables	880	940
91 Plus, 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
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	0	0
Total gross finance receivables	0	0
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	3,362	3,092
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	22	26
61-90 Days Past Due	9	5
91 Plus Days Past Due	3	2
Total Past Due	34	33
Current	1,928	1,539
Total gross finance receivables	1,962	1,572
91 Plus, Still Accruing	3	2
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	3	2
61-90 Days Past Due	1	1
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	1
Total Past Due	4	4
Current	501	423
Total gross finance receivables	505	427
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	400	468
Total gross finance receivables	400	468
91 Plus, 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
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	0	0
Total gross finance receivables	0	0
91 Plus, 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
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	487	616
Total gross finance receivables	487	616
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	1	0
61-90 Days Past Due	1	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	1
Total Past Due	2	1
Current	6	8
Total gross finance receivables	8	9
91 Plus, Still Accruing	$ 0	$ 1