Segment and Geographic Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	$ 725	$ 748	$ 757	$ 736	$ 699	$ 735	$ 723	$ 690	$ 2,966	$ 2,847	$ 2,689
Profit before income taxes	161	$ 184	$ 141	$ 142	46	$ 163	$ 100	$ 124	628	433	590
Interest Expense									787	757	667
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									813	819	810
Provision for credit losses									162	354	132
Assets	33,693				34,181				33,693	34,181	33,160
Capital expenditures									1,534	1,559	1,373
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									2,937	2,789	2,630
Profit before income taxes									791	504	664
Interest Expense									755	740	645
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									813	818	808
Provision for credit losses									162	347	137
Assets	32,402				32,598				32,402	32,598	31,888
Capital expenditures									1,518	1,454	1,365
Unallocated
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									59	92	90
Profit before income taxes									(342)	(267)	(220)
Interest Expense									256	248	193
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									0	1	0
Provision for credit losses									0	0	0
Assets	1,896				1,957				1,896	1,957	1,719
Capital expenditures									16	104	8
Segment Reconciling Items | Timing
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									(30)	(34)	(31)
Profit before income taxes									(17)	(1)	(6)
Interest Expense									0	0	0
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									0	0	2
Provision for credit losses									0	7	(5)
Assets	16				55				16	55	53
Capital expenditures									0	1	0
Segment Reconciling Items | Methodology
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									0	0	0
Profit before income taxes									196	197	152
Interest Expense									(224)	(231)	(171)
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									0	0	0
Provision for credit losses									0	0	0
Assets	(216)				(159)				(216)	(159)	(256)
Capital expenditures									0	0	0
Inter-segment Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									0	0	0
Profit before income taxes									0	0	0
Interest Expense									0	0	0
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									0	0	0
Provision for credit losses									0	0	0
Assets	(405)				(270)				(405)	(270)	(244)
Capital expenditures									0	0	0
North America | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									1,633	1,533	1,337
Profit before income taxes									493	434	353
Interest Expense									390	363	306
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									583	572	520
Provision for credit losses									19	42	36
Assets	15,540				15,632				15,540	15,632	14,790
Capital expenditures									1,106	1,108	992
EAME | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									289	279	307
Profit before income taxes									75	14	116
Interest Expense									56	50	37
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									65	71	80
Provision for credit losses									4	58	4
Assets	4,991				4,862				4,991	4,862	4,332
Capital expenditures									92	108	103
Asia/Pacific | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									386	357	267
Profit before income taxes									181	168	99
Interest Expense									112	111	87
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									11	18	25
Provision for credit losses									15	(5)	(5)
Assets	4,801				4,639				4,801	4,639	4,214
Capital expenditures									11	14	6
Latin America | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									251	254	292
Profit before income taxes									43	(3)	5
Interest Expense									98	101	121
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									24	27	38
Provision for credit losses									29	73	55
Assets	2,909				2,972				2,909	2,972	3,407
Capital expenditures									55	32	54
Caterpillar Power Finance | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									101	110	155
Profit before income taxes									(41)	(143)	42
Interest Expense									42	55	44
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									3	2	3
Provision for credit losses									71	171	39
Assets	1,673				2,259				1,673	2,259	2,746
Capital expenditures									0	0	0
Mining | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues									277	256	272
Profit before income taxes									40	34	49
Interest Expense									57	60	50
Depreciation on equipment leased to others									127	128	142
Provision for credit losses									24	8	8
Assets	$ 2,488				$ 2,234				2,488	2,234	2,399
Capital expenditures									$ 254	$ 192	$ 210