| **Segment reporting (Tables)**                         | 6 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
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| **Segment Reporting [Abstract]**                       |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| Schedule of selected financial information, by segment | Selected financial information is as follows: Truck(A) Engine Parts(A) FinancialServices(B) CorporateandEliminations Total(in millions)           Three Months Ended April 30, 2012           External sales and revenues, net$2,353 $440 $462 $43 $— $3,298Intersegment sales and revenues2 454 34 24 (514) —Total sales and revenues, net$2,355 $894 $496 $67 $(514) $3,298Net income (loss) attributable to NIC$(89) $(108) $41 $26 $(42) $(172)Income tax benefit— — — — 133 133Segment profit (loss)$(89) $(108) $41 $26 $(175) $(305)Depreciation and amortization$35 $30 $4 $8 $5 $82Interest expense— — — 22 40 62Equity in income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates(6) — 2 — — (4)Capital expenditures(C)16 36 5 1 15 73 Truck(A) Engine Parts(A) FinancialServices(B) CorporateandEliminations TotalThree Months Ended April 30, 2011           External sales and revenues, net$2,262 $524 $512 $57 $— $3,355Intersegment sales and revenues9 431 50 26 (516) —Total sales and revenues, net$2,271 $955 $562 $83 $(516) $3,355Net income (loss) attributable to NIC$92 $2 $74 $40 $(134) $74Income tax expense— — — — (5) (5)Segment profit (loss)$92 $2 $74 $40 $(129) $79Depreciation and amortization$38 $30 $3 $6 $4 $81Interest expense— — — 26 36 62Equity in income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates(17) (2) 3 — — (16)Capital expenditures(C)22 52 3 — 13 90Six Months Ended April 30, 2012           External sales and revenues$4,507 $860 $896 $87 $— $6,350Intersegment sales and revenues13 893 69 48 (1,023) —Sales and revenues, net$4,520 $1,753 $965 $135 $(1,023) $6,350Net income (loss) attributable to NIC$(130) $(228) $91 $53 $(111) $(325)Income tax benefit— — — — 214 214Segment profit (loss)$(130) $(228) $91 $53 $(325) $(539)Depreciation and amortization$69 $59 $6 $16 $10 $160Interest expense— — — 47 76 123Equity in income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates(15) 1 3 — — (11)Capital expenditures(C)32 76 12 2 54 176Six Months Ended April 30, 2011           External sales and revenues$4,053 $980 $958 $107 $— $6,098Intersegment sales and revenues18 758 99 49 (924) —Sales and revenues, net$4,071 $1,738 $1,057 $156 $(924) $6,098Net income (loss) attributable to NIC$124 $(6) $130 $72 $(252) $68Income tax expense— — — — (5) (5)Segment profit (loss)$124 $(6) $130 $72 $(247) $73Depreciation and amortization$75 $59 $5 $13 $9 $161Interest expense— — — 56 69 125Equity in income (loss) of non-consolidated affiliates(35) (2) 4 — — (33)Capital expenditures(C)38 84 4 — 59 185As of April 30, 2012            Segment assets$2,685 $1,823 $698 $3,043 $3,135 $11,384As of October 31, 2011           Segment assets2,771 1,849 700 3,580 3,391 12,291_________________________(A)See Note 2, Restructurings and Impairments, for further discussion.(B)Total sales and revenues in the Financial Services segment include interest revenues of $66 million and $133 million for the three and six months ended April 30, 2012, respectively, and $82 million and $153 million for the three and six months ended April 30, 2011, respectively. (C)Exclusive of purchases of equipment leased to others. |

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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of the profit or loss and total assets for each reportable segment. An entity discloses certain information on each reportable segment if the amounts (a) are included in the measure of segment profit or loss reviewed by the chief operating decision maker or (b) are otherwise regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker, even if not included in that measure of segment profit or loss.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 21 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8721-108599Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 22 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8736-108599Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 131 -Paragraph 27, 28 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009.  This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 30 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8906-108599Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6905597&loc=d3e13816-109267Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 25 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8813-108599
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