Meet Our Family of Brands
Caterpillar Inc. brands include offerings of machines, engines, components, services and solutions to meet the unique needs of a variety of industries and customers around the world. The Caterpillar brand represents the whole corporation and our people and has a strong connection to the Cat® brand – our flagship brand of products and services with customers served by our independently owned and operated global Cat dealer network.
We meet the unique needs of customers around the world with our diverse brand portfolio that extends beyond our iconic yellow iron.
The History of Our Brand Journey
Learn more about when our current brands joined the Caterpillar family. Many have their own rich history.
1950s
1950 | Cat
The Cat brand first appeared on products in 1950 and was trademarked in 1952. Cat machines and engines are widely recognized as premium products and known for superior quality and reliability. The portfolio is the most extensive in the industry and includes technology products and a broad array of services such as rental and finance.
1960s
1965 | Cat Lift Trucks
In 1965 Caterpillar acquired the company Towmotor and formed Cat® Lift Trucks. In 1992 Caterpillar and the Japanese-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries began a joint venture company, Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA), to produce and market lift trucks. Cat lift trucks deliver innovative material handling solutions for the most challenging applications. Today, our forklift lineup consists of electric counterbalanced lift trucks to internal combustion (IC) cushion and pneumatic tire lift trucks.
1970s
1973 | Cat Reman
Our first remanufacturing plant began production in Bettendorf, Iowa, in 1973. Our reman brand offers a broad portfolio of replacement parts, available from your Cat dealer, providing same-as-when-new performance and durability at a lower price than an equivalent new part.
1980s
1981 | Cat Financial
In 1981 Caterpillar formed the Caterpillar Leasing Company subsidiary, and in 1983, it was renamed to Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (Cat Financial). Cat Financial provides retail and wholesale financing solutions and extended protection products to Cat customers and dealers for the complete line of Cat machinery and engines, Solar® gas turbines, other related equipment and marine vessels.
1981 | Solar Turbines
Solar Turbines was founded in 1927 as the Prudden-San Diego Airplane Company. Convinced that the gas turbine was the prime mover of the future, the company invested heavily in developing small turbines. The International Harvester Company purchased the company in early 1960, and Caterpillar acquired Solar Turbines International in 1981. Today, Solar designs and manufactures industrial gas turbines for onshore and offshore electrical power generation, marine propulsion, and the production, processing, and transportation of natural gas and oil.
1984 | Hindustan
In 1984, it was announced that Hindustan Motors Ltd. of Calcutta, India, would begin licensing the manufacture of specific Caterpillar construction equipment models, including track-type tractors, wheel loaders, and off-highway trucks. For over 30 years, Hindustan has provided affordable, high-quality, ready-to-run small wheel loader products and components that are reliable, easy to use and maintain, and backed by responsive support to our India market.
1990s
1992 | Olympian
Our Olympian brand offers prime power or standby gas and diesel-fueled generator set and aftermarket parts.
1993 | Anchor
With a history dating back to 1938, the Anchor brand is known for high-quality hydraulic hose, steel couplings and complete assemblies for the OEM and general market business sectors. Hoses and couplings are essential parts for the operation of every Caterpillar product.
1996 | FG Wilson
With over 50 years of experience, the FG Wilson product line ranges from small ready-to-run generator sets suitable for domestic use to large power systems with remote monitoring capabilities to feed into the national grid. In 1996 Caterpillar purchased a 49% interest in F.G. Wilson located in Larne, Northern Ireland and acquired the remaining 51% in 1999.
1996 | MaK
With a history dating back over 150 years, MaK is one of the top engine brands in the medium-speed propulsion market. The product line features marine diesel, gas and dual-fuel engines used in various marine applications. MaK's product line represents the state of the art in large diesel engines and was a natural extension of the upper end of Caterpillar's diesel engine portfolio.
1996 | Turner Powertrain System
Since 1859, Turner Powertrain Systems has developed transmissions that deliver the performance, functionality and reliability that customers demand. The brand is the world market leader in developing and manufacturing transmissions for backhoes, wheel loaders and telehandlers.
1997 | AsiaTrak
AsiaTrak is the leading producer of high-quality undercarriage components for hydraulic excavators and track-type tractors for Caterpillar and outside OEMs.
1998 | Cat Rental Store
In 1998 the Cat Rental Store began offering short-term equipment use, providing rentals for a day or even an hour. Cat dealers opened Cat Rental Stores on three continents, offering a new set of customers the opportunity to use our new, smaller machines and work tools. Today, the Cat® Rental Store network offers the largest construction equipment rental fleet in the world. From our well-known Cat earthmoving machines, excavators, skid steer loaders, backhoes, pavers and compactors, work tools and power generators to equipment from more than 70 other top-tier brands.
1998 | Perkins
In 1998 Caterpillar acquired Perkins and changed the name to Perkins Engines Company Limited of Peterborough, England. The purchase extended Caterpillar's global position as a full-line producer of diesel and gas reciprocating engines. With a history stretching back to 1932, Perkins is a world-leading provider of diesel and gas engines, providing the most comprehensive range of innovative and reliable power solutions tailored to meet our customers' precise requirements.
2000s
2005 | SEM
For over 60 years, the SEM brand offers wheel loaders, soil compactors, motor graders and track-type tractors targeted to meet customers' needs in China and other markets. SEM products meet or exceed regional industry requirements for quality and reliability.
2006 | Progress Rail
Serving the rail industry since 1983, Progress Rail is one of the largest integrated and diversified providers of rolling stock and infrastructure solutions and technologies for global rail customers.
2010s
2011 | MWM
With a history dating back to 1871, MWM developed and produced, sustainable gas engines and gensets in Mannheim, Germany. Today, Caterpillar Energy Solutions develops and produces the MWM brand products including, gas engines and gensets, distributed power plants, cogeneration plants and CHP plants, gas applications, and cogeneration and trigeneration.
2021 | SPM
SPM Oil & Gas provides superior products and service solutions to Oil & Gas customers in upstream, production, transportation, refining and related industries.