Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2019
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	$ 598	$ 748	$ 1,934	$ 2,241
Profit before income taxes	96	184	312	467
Interest Expense	137	198	462	599
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	169	205	564	611
Provision for credit losses	70	20	217	144
Assets	31,765		31,765		$ 33,693
Capital expenditures	280	388	783	1,093
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	597	741	1,930	2,216
Profit before income taxes	130	223	378	585
Interest Expense	132	188	475	571
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	169	205	564	611
Provision for credit losses	71	20	218	144
Assets	30,694		30,694		32,402
Capital expenditures	277	386	774	1,082
Unallocated
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	5	14	20	48
Profit before income taxes	(76)	(87)	(210)	(253)
Interest Expense	59	66	161	195
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0	0	0
Provision for credit losses	(1)	0	(1)	0
Assets	1,613		1,613		1,896
Capital expenditures	3	2	9	11
Segment Reconciling Items | Timing
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	(4)	(7)	(16)	(23)
Profit before income taxes	(1)	(4)	(3)	(13)
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	11		11		16
Capital expenditures	0	0	0	0
Segment Reconciling Items | Methodology
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	0	0	0	0
Profit before income taxes	43	52	147	148
Interest Expense	(54)	(56)	(174)	(167)
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	0	0	0
Provision for credit losses	0	0	0	0
Assets	(161)		(161)		(216)
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	(392)		(392)		(405)
Capital expenditures	0	0	0	0
North America | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	314	412	1,052	1,224
Profit before income taxes	81	126	218	373
Interest Expense	72	99	253	294
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	116	146	399	434
Provision for credit losses	7	3	54	12
Assets	14,686		14,686		15,496
Capital expenditures	206	265	647	831
EAME | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	70	70	203	211
Profit before income taxes	(3)	13	27	58
Interest Expense	7	12	30	38
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	16	16	47	50
Provision for credit losses	31	5	44	2
Assets	4,968		4,968		4,918
Capital expenditures	10	21	23	62
Asia/Pacific | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	83	90	251	277
Profit before income taxes	38	42	113	128
Interest Expense	20	25	70	81
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	1	3	6	9
Provision for credit losses	9	6	23	14
Assets	4,444		4,444		4,540
Capital expenditures	1	(1)	6	9
Latin America | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	50	64	151	181
Profit before income taxes	19	19	27	25
Interest Expense	12	24	56	70
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	3	4	9	13
Provision for credit losses	4	3	23	31
Assets	2,630		2,630		2,809
Capital expenditures	3	2	7	9
Caterpillar Power Finance | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	12	23	49	78
Profit before income taxes	(25)	9	(34)	(40)
Interest Expense	7	10	21	34
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	0	1	0	2
Provision for credit losses	25	(3)	48	65
Assets	1,394		1,394		1,673
Capital expenditures	16	0	16	0
Mining | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information
External Revenues	68	82	224	245
Profit before income taxes	20	14	27	41
Interest Expense	14	18	45	54
Depreciation on equipment leased to others	33	35	103	103
Provision for credit losses	(5)	6	26	20
Assets	2,572		2,572		$ 2,966
Capital expenditures	$ 41	$ 99	$ 75	$ 171