Financing Activities (Details 3) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
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	$ 258	$ 206	$ 224
61-90 Days Past Due	134	73	108
91 Plus Days Past Due	384	436	458
Total Past Due	776	715	790
Current	28,290	27,853	24,325
Total gross finance receivables	29,066	28,568	25,115
91 Plus, Still Accruing	33	37	66
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	456	528	480
North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	11,186	10,271	9,923
Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	3,871	3,539	2,960
Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	4,492	5,282	4,185
Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	2,148	1,974	1,485
Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	4,269	4,319	3,613
Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	3,100	3,183	2,949
Customer
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	20,720	19,868	17,988
Customer | North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	37	35	75
61-90 Days Past Due	12	8	39
91 Plus Days Past Due	24	52	111
Total Past Due	73	95	225
Current	6,507	5,889	5,448
Total gross finance receivables	6,580	5,984	5,673
91 Plus, Still Accruing	6	3	9
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	26	59	112
Customer | Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	26	23	27
61-90 Days Past Due	15	9	11
91 Plus Days Past Due	29	36	57
Total Past Due	70	68	95
Current	2,805	2,487	2,129
Total gross finance receivables	2,875	2,555	2,224
91 Plus, Still Accruing	8	9	10
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	28	38	58
Customer | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	55	53	48
61-90 Days Past Due	46	19	23
91 Plus Days Past Due	59	54	38
Total Past Due	160	126	109
Current	3,158	3,343	3,095
Total gross finance receivables	3,318	3,469	3,204
91 Plus, Still Accruing	11	18	14
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	50	36	24
Customer | Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	3	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	1	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	12	12	12
Total Past Due	15	13	12
Current	2,128	1,960	1,473
Total gross finance receivables	2,143	1,973	1,485
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	23	12	12
Customer | Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	54	62	32
61-90 Days Past Due	25	19	15
91 Plus Days Past Due	196	153	107
Total Past Due	275	234	154
Current	2,438	2,481	2,328
Total gross finance receivables	2,713	2,715	2,482
91 Plus, Still Accruing	5	0	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	210	163	116
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	55	15	14
61-90 Days Past Due	30	14	16
91 Plus Days Past Due	60	126	125
Total Past Due	145	155	155
Current	2,946	3,017	2,765
Total gross finance receivables	3,091	3,172	2,920
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	4	25
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	119	220	158
Dealer
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	5,254	5,586	3,973
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	0	0	0
Dealer | North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	2
Total Past Due	0	0	2
Current	3,034	2,931	2,412
Total gross finance receivables	3,034	2,931	2,414
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	2
Dealer | Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0	0
Current	569	652	334
Total gross finance receivables	569	652	334
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Dealer | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0	0
Current	706	945	516
Total gross finance receivables	706	945	516
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Dealer | Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0	0
Current	5	1	0
Total gross finance receivables	5	1	0
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Dealer | Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0	0
Current	940	1,057	709
Total gross finance receivables	940	1,057	709
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Dealer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0	0
Current	0	0	0
Total gross finance receivables	0	0	0
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
Total gross finance receivables	3,092	3,114	3,154
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	0	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | North America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	26	17	25
61-90 Days Past Due	5	3	4
91 Plus Days Past Due	2	2	6
Total Past Due	33	22	35
Current	1,539	1,334	1,801
Total gross finance receivables	1,572	1,356	1,836
91 Plus, Still Accruing	2	2	6
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Europe
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	2	1	3
61-90 Days Past Due	1	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	1	0	0
Total Past Due	4	1	3
Current	423	331	399
Total gross finance receivables	427	332	402
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Asia/Pacific
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0	0
Current	468	868	465
Total gross finance receivables	468	868	465
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Mining
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0	0
Current	0	0	0
Total gross finance receivables	0	0	0
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Latin America
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	0	0	0
Total Past Due	0	0	0
Current	616	547	422
Total gross finance receivables	616	547	422
91 Plus, Still Accruing	0	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables | Caterpillar Power Finance
Financing Receivable, Recorded Investment, Past Due
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	0	0
91 Plus Days Past Due	1	1	0
Total Past Due	1	1	0
Current	8	10	29
Total gross finance receivables	9	11	29
91 Plus, Still Accruing	$ 1	$ 1	$ 0