| **Income Taxes (Tables)**                                           | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
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| **Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]**                                |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| Components of Profit before income taxes                            | The components of Profit before income taxes for the years ended December 31, were as follows: (Millions of dollars)        2012 2011 2010U.S. $38 $49 $(50)Non-U.S. 553 455 379Total $591 $504 $329                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Components of the Provision for income taxes                        | The components of the Provision for income taxes were as follows for the years ended December 31: (Millions of dollars)        2012 2011 2010Current income tax provision (benefit):      U.S. $14 $(14) $(43)Non-U.S. 179 164 109State (U.S.) (2) 2 (1)  191 152 65       Deferred income tax provision (benefit):      U.S. (13) (5) (8)Non-U.S. (27) (32) (14)State (U.S.) (3) (4) (3)  (43) (41) (25)       Total Provision for income taxes $148 $111 $40                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory rate to effective rate | The actual Provision for income taxes differs from the Provision for income taxes that would result from applying the U.S. statutory rate to Profit before income taxes for the years ended December 31, for the reasons set forth in the following reconciliation: (Millions of dollars)        2012 2011 2010Taxes computed at U.S. statutory rates $207 35.0 % $176 35.0 % $115 35.0 %(Decreases) increases in taxes resulting from:            State Income Tax, net of Federal Tax (3) (0.5)% (1) (0.2)% (2) (0.6)%Prior Year Non-U.S. tax and interest adjustment – Refund Claim — — % — — % (10) (3.0)%Prior Year Non-U.S. tax and interest adjustment – Other — — % (15) (3.0)% (12) (3.6)%Subsidiaries' results subject to tax rates other than U.S. statutory rates (50) (8.6)% (46) (9.1)% (47) (14.2)%Other, net (6) (1.0)% (3) (0.6)% (4) (1.2)%Provision for income taxes $148 24.9 % $111 22.1 % $40 12.4 %                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| Deferred income tax assets and liabilities                          | The amounts of deferred income taxes at December 31, included in the following lines in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Position were: (Millions of dollars)        2012 2011 2010Assets:      Deferred and refundable income taxes $104 $84 $85Liabilities:      Deferred income taxes and other liabilities (539) (584) (594)Deferred income taxes, net $(435) $(500) $(509)        Differences between accounting rules and income tax laws cause differences between the bases of certain assets and liabilities for financial reporting and income tax purposes.  The income tax effects of these differences, to the extent they are temporary, are recorded as deferred income tax assets and liabilities netted by tax jurisdiction and taxpayer.Our consolidated deferred income taxes consisted of the following components as of December 31: (Millions of dollars)        2012 2011 2010Deferred tax assets:      Allowance for credit losses $156 $114 $91Tax credit carryforwards — 13 24Net operating loss carryforwards 59 69 92  215 196 207       Deferred income tax liabilities (primarily lease basis differences) (468) (494) (539)       Valuation allowance for deferred income tax assets (9) (9) (8)       Deferred income tax on translation adjustment (173) (193) (169)       Deferred income taxes, net $(435) $(500) $(509)        |
| Summary of net operating loss carryforwards                         | As of December 31, 2012, amounts and expiration dates of net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards in various U.S. state taxing jurisdictions were: (Millions of dollars)        2013 2014 2015 2016 2017-2031 Total$— $— $— $— $205 $205 The gross deferred income tax asset associated with these NOL carryforwards is $16 million as of December 31, 2012, partially offset by a valuation allowance of $5 million.  The valuation allowance indicates the loss carryforwards are likely to expire prior to utilization. In some U.S. state income tax jurisdictions, we join with other Caterpillar entities in filing combined income tax returns.  In other U.S. state income tax jurisdictions, we file on a separate, stand-alone basis. As of December 31, 2012, amounts and expiration dates of NOL carryforwards in various non-U.S. taxing jurisdictions were: (Millions of dollars)          2013 2014 2015 2016 2017-2027 Unlimited Total$— $3 $4 $1 $46 $134 $188 Valuation allowances totaling $4 million have been recorded at certain non-U.S. subsidiaries that have not yet demonstrated consistent and/or sustainable profitability to support the recognition of net deferred income tax assets.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| Schedule of unrecognized tax benefits                               | A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of gross unrecognized income tax benefits for uncertain income tax positions, including positions impacting only the timing of income tax benefits was as follows: (Millions of dollars)        2012 2011 2010Reconciliation of unrecognized income tax benefits(1):      Balance at beginning of year $— $7 $7Additions for income tax positions related to prior year 2 — —Reductions for income tax positions related to prior year — (7) —Balance at end of year $2 $— $7       Amount that, if recognized, would impact the effective tax rate $2 $— $2       (1) Foreign currency translation amounts are included within each line as applicable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |

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| - Definition
The disclosure of unrecognized tax benefits pertaining to uncertain tax positions taken in tax returns.
+ References
No definition available.
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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of the components of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for each year presented including, but not limited to: current tax expense (benefit), deferred tax expense (benefit), investment tax credits, government grants, the benefits of operating loss carryforwards, tax expense that results from allocating certain tax benefits either directly to contributed capital or to reduce goodwill or other noncurrent intangible assets of an acquired entity, adjustments of a deferred tax liability or asset for enacted changes in tax laws or rates or a change in the tax status of the entity, and adjustments of the beginning-of-the-year balances of a valuation allowance because of a change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset in future years.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32639-109319
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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of the components of net deferred tax asset or liability recognized in an entity's statement of financial position, including the following: the total of all deferred tax liabilities, the total of all deferred tax assets, the total valuation allowance recognized for deferred tax assets.
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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32537-109319
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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of the reconciliation using percentage or dollar amounts of the reported amount of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for the year to the amount of income tax expense that would result from applying domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations.
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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32687-109319
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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of income before income tax between domestic and foreign jurisdictions.
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No definition available.
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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of pertinent information, such as tax authority, amounts, and expiration dates, of net operating loss carryforwards, including an assessment of the likelihood of utilization.
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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 48 -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 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32559-109319
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