Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	$ 736	$ 690
Profit before income taxes	142	124
Interest Expense	201	174
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	202	199
Provision for credit losses	53	67
Assets	33,824		$ 34,181
Capital expenditures	246	361
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	725	676
Profit before income taxes	181	148
Interest Expense	191	173
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	202	199
Provision for credit losses	53	60
Assets	32,350		32,598
Capital expenditures	243	269
Unallocated
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	19	22
Profit before income taxes	(83)	(67)
Interest Expense	64	58
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Assets	1,952		1,957
Capital expenditures	3	92
Timing
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	(8)	(8)
Profit before income taxes	(5)	(3)
Interest Expense	0	0
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	7
Assets	25		55
Capital expenditures	0	0
Methodology
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	0	0
Profit before income taxes	49	46
Interest Expense	(54)	(57)
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Assets	(176)		(159)
Capital expenditures	0	0
Inter-segment Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	0	0
Profit before income taxes	0	0
Interest Expense	0	0
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0
Assets	(327)		(270)
Capital expenditures	0	0
North America | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	401	361
Profit before income taxes	116	95
Interest Expense	97	82
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	144	135
Provision for credit losses	7	17
Assets	15,677		15,632
Capital expenditures	179	210
Europe | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	72	68
Profit before income taxes	24	7
Interest Expense	14	10
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	17	20
Provision for credit losses	(1)	11
Assets	4,800		4,862
Capital expenditures	23	14
Asia/Pacific | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	94	82
Profit before income taxes	42	40
Interest Expense	30	25
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	3	6
Provision for credit losses	3	(4)
Assets	4,756		4,639
Capital expenditures	6	4
Latin America | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	60	69
Profit before income taxes	3	4
Interest Expense	23	29
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	6	7
Provision for credit losses	16	12
Assets	2,923		2,972
Capital expenditures	2	8
Caterpillar Power Finance | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	29	34
Profit before income taxes	(16)	(3)
Interest Expense	13	12
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	1
Provision for credit losses	26	18
Assets	1,964		2,259
Capital expenditures	0	0
Mining | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	69	62
Profit before income taxes	12	5
Interest Expense	14	15
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	32	30
Provision for credit losses	2	6
Assets	2,230		$ 2,234
Capital expenditures	$ 33	$ 33