Caterpillar - worldwide capital expenditures 2015-2023
Caterpillar's capital expenditures
After a slump in sales in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2009, Caterpillar Inc. successfully fought its way back to the top of the construction equipment market. In 2015 however, the Illinois-headquartered firm found itself in the doldrums, due to unusually slow growth rates in China. Caterpillar reported global revenue of around 47 billion U.S. dollars in that year, down from around 55 million U.S. dollars a year earlier. Consequently, Caterpillar decreased its capital expenditures to about 3.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. The manufacturing giant invested 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in property, plant and equipment expenditures and an additional 1.9 billion U.S. dollars in equipment lease expenditures in 2015. These figures decreased to 978 million U.S. dollars and 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, respectively in 2020.
While Caterpillar is attempting to decrease its carbon footprint through the growing use of electricity from renewable sources, the company's diverse geographic footprint leaves the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment exposed to volatility in markets outside North America, Caterpillar's most important regional market. A slight uptick in domestic demand was needed to offset tepid sales in Latin America and the EAME (Europe, Africa, and Middle East) region. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, revenue figures decreased in all regions.