Caterpillar Inc.

Caterpillar Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment, headquartered in Peoria, Illinois (USA). In addition to construction equipment represents Caterpillar also manufactures high-speed and medium-speed diesel and gas engines, and ( through its subsidiary Solar) industrial gas turbines. Through the acquisition of Bucyrus International, Caterpillar is also one of the largest manufacturers of over - and underground mining equipment. Similarly, work shoes and outdoor mobile phones and smartphones are now sold.

Company History

Caterpillar (originally for zoological: caterpillar, then - as in English - as well the technical meanings of the word) was created in 1925 from a merger of Holt Manufacturing Company (Benjamin Holt ) and the CL Best Tractor Company ( Daniel Best ) and was named Caterpillar Tractor Company. Benjamin Holt was 1904, the Second, the fitting out a tractor with a drive chain and is thus regarded as one of the pioneers of the chain drive that today Kettenräumern ( colloquially: Bulldozers ) is applied, wheel excavators, tanks and other tracked vehicles.

In 1981 Caterpillar bought the US-based gas turbine manufacturer Solar Turbines.

1997 Caterpillar acquired LucasVarity the engine manufacturer Perkins Engines for 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, which was until then the most expensive acquisition in its history.

In 1998, Caterpillar took over the Kiel-based company established manufacturer MaK engines for mittelschnellläufige by the Group Krupp. The hitherto known Krupp MaK was incorporated into the Caterpillar Company branch and renamed & Co KG in Caterpillar Motoren GmbH. The previously established under one roof work areas were detached from the mounting operation, so that there are three separate parts today, who report to different business centers. The engine manufacturer is known as KEC (Kiel Engine Center ).

2003 Caterpillar acquired the brand name Payhauler and Unit Rig Terex by the company as well as the corresponding series of diesel-electric dump truck. 2004 was taken over by Babcock Borsig, the Swiss company Turbomach and assigned to the division Solar Turbines.

Since 2005, supplied telescopic handlers JLG Industries, which distributes Caterpillar under its own brand name through its dealer network.

In November 2010, Bucyrus International has agreed to purchase by Caterpillar for about 8.6 billion U.S. dollars. The transaction was completed on 8 July 2011.

Key economic data

The production of the machines is located worldwide, mostly where the major markets for the products. Caterpillar employs some 95,000 people worldwide and had 2006 annual sales of 41.5 billion U.S. dollars. The company 's products include dump trucks, excavators, loaders, bulldozers, motor graders and backhoes. To use the equipment for earthworks, the construction industry, but especially in mines and opencast mines come.

In 1999 they went in a joint venture for mutual marketing of agricultural machinery with the German company Claas. Tracked tractors sold in Europe as Claas machines, while Claas Lexion combine harvester - were sold in North America under the brand CAT - So CAT Challenger tractors and were. Together Nebraska was in Omaha, also built a combine harvester. The fifty percent Caterpillar shares thereto as well as the joint venture, however, were acquired in 2002 by Claas, as Caterpillar decided to abandon the production of crawler tractors for agriculture and the brand name to sell Challenger at AGCO Corporation. The produced in Omaha by Claas for the North American market Lexion combines were marketed as CAT Lexion through the Caterpillar distribution companies and cared for. Meanwhile, these are in Caterpillar colors - sold through the Caterpillar dealer network - but under the name Claas.

Caterpillar does not maintain its own distribution system. The sale of Caterpillar products is carried out by authorized independent distributors. In Germany, for example, the Zeppelin GmbH.

Ownership

Environmental

Caterpillar has invested since 2005 more than 500 million U.S. dollars in research and development of ACERT technology to reduce exhaust emissions through the use of simulation tools and improved engine technology (eg electronically controlled injection, improved combustion process, variable valve timing ) to reach. Caterpillar is the first major company that published a Sustainability Report, which should make efforts to improve the environmental performance transparent. This Caterpillar is trying to counteract the constant criticism by environmental pollution and destruction of natural space by its machines.

Controversies

Sale of D9 bulldozers to the Israeli army

Caterpillar sold D9 bulldozers to the Israeli army (IDF ), which they used among other things to internationally wrongful destruction of houses of civilians, farmland and construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Humanitarian organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the World Council of Churches have criticized Caterpillar for its supplies to the Israeli army. In February 2012, the rating agency MSCI Caterpillar has dropped from its World Socially Responsible Index. The reason it was next to a labor dispute and a plant closure in Canada in January 2012, workplace safety and environmental issues in the controversy surrounding the use of Caterpillar equipment in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Caterpillar company defends its sales to the Israeli army so that it was not in a position to monitor the use of all machines sold by them.

Tax evasion

Caterpillar wrapped his spare parts business from 2000 to 2012 through a Swiss subsidiary from, for a particularly low tax rate has been negotiated. While in Switzerland, neither manufactures nor spare parts are stored, the gains were recorded there, with which the U.S. government escaped CHF 2.1 billion in taxes.

169480
de