Caterpillar Rolls Out Its Hybrid D7E Tractor

Despite the economic turmoil, Caterpillar introduces a diesel-electric tractor, which it hopes will help drive the company's recovery

BusinessWeek, July 20, 2009 — Caterpillar's (CAT) earnings report today was cloudy—second quarter profits dropped 66% as sales cratered—but there was a silver lining: the company reported earnings of 60 cents per share, when analysts, on average, had expected earnings of 22 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters. And the Peoria (Ill.) heavy equipment maker increased its 2009 profit forecast from $1.25 per share to between $1.15 and $2.25 per share, a tentative projection that reflects the uncertainty of the economic landscape.

Cat kicks in to sponsor English rugby team

Crain's Chicago Business, May 27, 2008 — Construction giant Caterpillar Inc. will sponsor the English rugby union club Leicester Tigers in a five-year deal worth about $11.8 million.

The deal is the biggest club rugby sponsorship in the world, the club said Tuesday.

Caterpillar digs into China

Crain's Chicago Business, April 7, 2008 — It took Caterpillar Inc. three decades to reach $1.5 billion in annual sales in China. The Peoria-based construction-equipment maker now aims to more than double that in the next three years.

With the U.S. construction business tanking, Caterpillar needs to capitalize on a building boom in China. Ramping up sales in the world's fastest-growing construction market could help offset slumping demand in the United States and keep Cat on track to hit its goal of boosting companywide revenue 33% by 2010.

In China, Add a Caterpillar to the Dog and Pony Show†

Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2007 — Selling giant industrial machines in China sometimes feels to Mike Cai like living life in a traveling circus.

A marketer for Caterpillar Inc., Mr. Cai is working to crack the China market for earthmovers called wheel tractor-scrapers. Already a decades-old product in America, these dirt-scoopers, which weigh in at 38 tons, haven't made much headway in China, which still relies on the smaller "hex" — industry jargon for hydraulic excavator — and trucks on most construction sites.

To change that, Mr. Cai and his colleagues have eschewed traditional advertising techniques. Instead they've taken their show on the road, adopting a tactic popular in China's burgeoning market.

Caterpillar: Big trucks, big sales, big attitude

Big Yellow is thriving. But there are big headaches too, and competition is getting tougher. So Caterpillar is revamping its operations. The big risk: Will the wheels fall off?

FORTUNE, August 13, 2007 — Bugs. From the rim of the vast open pit, the trucks, bulldozers and road scrapers far below look like scuttling yellow insects. Descend the dirt ramps that spiral a third of a mile down to the floor of the pit, though, and those bugs are transformed into Caterpillars - as in the ubiquitous machines that are as much a feature of the mining landscape as muck.

Small B-to-B Brands Get Their 'TV Moment'†

Industry's Been Slow to Come Online but Finds Promise in Narrowcasting

Advertising Age, December 14, 2006 — As more of the U.S. population moves online, B-to-B industries that previously thought they were immune to the migration have had to begin figuring out their web strategies.