| **Debt (Tables)**              | 9 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
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| **Debt Disclosure [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Debt                           |   2011 2010(in millions)    Manufacturing operations    8.25% Senior Notes, due 2021, net of unamortized discount of $33 and $35 at the respective dates $967 $9653.0% Senior Subordinated Convertible Notes, due 2014, net of unamortized discount of $73 and $94 at the respective dates 497 476Debt of majority-owned dealerships 94 66Financing arrangements and capital lease obligations 118 221Loan Agreement related to 6.5% Tax Exempt Bonds, due 2040 225 225Promissory Note 40 —Other 39 33Total manufacturing operations debt 1,980 1,986Less: Current portion 99 145Net long-term manufacturing operations debt $1,881 $1,841Financial services operations    Asset-backed debt issued by consolidated SPEs, at variable rates, due serially through 2018 $1,664 $1,731Bank revolvers, at fixed and variable rates, due dates from 2012 through 2018 1,072 974Commercial paper, at variable rates, due serially through 2012 70 67Borrowings secured by operating and finance leases, at various rates, due serially through 2017 70 112Total financial services operations debt 2,876 2,884Less: Current portion 1,280 487Net long-term financial services operations debt $1,596 $2,397 |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Future Maturities              |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | The aggregate contractual annual maturities for debt as of October 31, 2011, are as follows:   ManufacturingOperations(A)  FinancialServicesOperations(B)  Total  (in millions)      2012 $99 $1,280 $1,3792013 109 219 3282014 615 454 1,0692015 21 62 832016 8 91 99Thereafter 1,234 770 2,004Total debt 2,086 2,876 4,962Less: Unamortized discount (106) — (106)Net debt $1,980 $2,876 $4,856______________________ (A) Amounts include the borrowing of $100 million under the Asset-Based Credit Facility in November 2011, reflected as being due in 2017. (B) Amounts reflect the NFC refinancing of its bank credit facility in December 2011 with a five-year revolving line of credit and term loan, totaling $840 million, which shifted certain debt maturities to be largely due in 2017. |

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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of information pertaining to short-term and long-debt instruments or arrangements, including but not limited to identification of terms, features, collateral requirements and other information necessary to a fair presentation.
+ References
No definition available.
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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of the combined aggregate amount of maturities and sinking fund requirements for all long-term borrowings for each of the five years following the date of the latest balance sheet date presented.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Topic 470 -SubTopic 10 -Publisher FASB -Number  -Article  -Subparagraph  -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Paragraph 1 -Section 50 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6802200&loc=d3e1835-112601
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