Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	$ 748	$ 735	$ 2,241	$ 2,148
Profit before income taxes	184	163	467	387
Interest Expense	198	194	599	558
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	205	208	611	616
Provision for credit losses	20	47	144	218
Assets	33,907		33,907		$ 34,181
Capital expenditures	388	298	1,093	1,192
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	741	721	2,216	2,105
Profit before income taxes	224	190	587	447
Interest Expense	187	186	569	548
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	205	208	611	615
Provision for credit losses	20	48	144	212
Assets	32,409		32,409		32,598
Capital expenditures	386	295	1,082	1,095
Unallocated
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	14	23	48	68
Profit before income taxes	(87)	(72)	(253)	(204)
Interest Expense	66	62	195	182
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0	0	1
Provision for credit losses	0	(1)	0	(1)
Assets	1,986		1,986		1,957
Capital expenditures	2	3	11	97
Timing
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	(7)	(9)	(23)	(25)
Profit before income taxes	(4)	6	(13)	12
Interest Expense	0	0	0	0
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0	0	7
Assets	19		19		55
Capital expenditures	0	0	0	0
Methodology
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	0	0	0	0
Profit before income taxes	51	39	146	132
Interest Expense	(55)	(54)	(165)	(172)
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0	0	0
Assets	(144)		(144)		(159)
Capital expenditures	0	0	0	0
Inter-segment Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	0	0	0	0
Profit before income taxes	0	0	0	0
Interest Expense	0	0	0	0
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0	0	0
Assets	(363)		(363)		(270)
Capital expenditures	0	0	0	0
North America | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	414	402	1,229	1,141
Profit before income taxes	127	121	374	321
Interest Expense	99	94	295	267
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	147	148	437	427
Provision for credit losses	3	7	12	32
Assets	15,764		15,764		15,632
Capital expenditures	265	204	832	870
EAME | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	72	69	217	208
Profit before income taxes	14	12	60	24
Interest Expense	13	12	40	35
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	16	17	50	56
Provision for credit losses	6	8	3	32
Assets	4,924		4,924		4,862
Capital expenditures	21	20	62	56
Asia/Pacific | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	96	92	295	269
Profit before income taxes	45	44	139	128
Interest Expense	26	29	85	84
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	3	4	9	14
Provision for credit losses	6	0	14	(5)
Assets	4,488		4,488		4,639
Capital expenditures	(1)	3	9	10
Latin America | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	67	61	189	193
Profit before income taxes	19	15	25	(1)
Interest Expense	25	23	73	77
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	6	6	17	21
Provision for credit losses	2	6	31	54
Assets	2,996		2,996		2,972
Capital expenditures	2	1	21	28
Caterpillar Power Finance | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	23	33	78	98
Profit before income taxes	9	(21)	(40)	(60)
Interest Expense	10	13	34	40
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	1	1	2	2
Provision for credit losses	(3)	34	65	98
Assets	1,766		1,766		2,259
Capital expenditures	0	0	0	0
Mining | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	69	64	208	196
Profit before income taxes	10	19	29	35
Interest Expense	14	15	42	45
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	32	32	96	95
Provision for credit losses	6	(7)	19	1
Assets	2,471		2,471		$ 2,234
Capital expenditures	$ 99	$ 67	$ 158	$ 131