Doug Oberhelman Spends First Day as Chairman of Caterpillar Meeting With Dealer Group to Strengthen Customer Focus
PEORIA, Ill., Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following a previously announced succession plan, Doug Oberhelman succeeded Jim Owens today as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT). A 35-year veteran of Caterpillar, Oberhelman is spending his first day as Chairman and CEO meeting with Caterpillar dealers representing Latin America to discuss the company's updated strategy and to hear directly from dealers about how Caterpillar can improve on its industry-leading product support capabilities for the rapidly growing Latin American market.
Oberhelman succeeds Jim Owens, who retired as Chairman on October 31 after more than 38 years with Caterpillar. Oberhelman succeeded Owens as CEO of Caterpillar on July 1, 2010.
"I am humbled to lead one of the truly great companies in the world," Oberhelman said. "Top to bottom, we have great people throughout the entire Caterpillar organization and along with our dealers, we are acutely focused on helping our customers succeed with the widest range of products and services in our industry," Oberhelman added.
Since becoming CEO of Caterpillar on July 1, Oberhelman has spent part of each week talking with customers and dealers from around the world and has visited Caterpillar facilities throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
"Doug brings a very unique focus on product quality and customer satisfaction to the job while also providing deep business expertise that will drive financial performance and results for our stockholders," said W. Frank Blount, presiding director and chairman of the Governance Committee of Caterpillar's Board of Directors.
About Caterpillar:
For more than 85 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2009 sales and revenues of $32.396 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The company also is a leading services provider through Caterpillar Financial Services, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services, Caterpillar Logistics Services and Progress Rail Services. More information is available at: http://www.cat.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and, as such, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to known and unknown factors that may cause actual results of Caterpillar Inc. to be different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and Caterpillar does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.
It is important to note that actual results of the company may differ materially from those described or implied in such forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) economic volatility in the global economy generally and in capital and credit markets; (ii) Caterpillar's ability to generate cash from operations, secure external funding for operations and manage liquidity needs; (iii) adverse changes in the economic conditions of the industries or markets Caterpillar serves; (iv) government regulations or policies, including those affecting interest rates, liquidity, access to capital and government spending on infrastructure development; (v) commodity price increases and/or limited availability of raw materials and component products, including steel; (vi) compliance costs associated with environmental laws and regulations; (vii) Caterpillar's and Cat Financial's ability to maintain their respective credit ratings, material increases in either company's cost of borrowing or an inability of either company to access capital markets; (viii) financial condition and credit worthiness of Cat Financial's customers; (ix) material adverse changes in our customers' access to liquidity and capital; (x) market acceptance of Caterpillar's products and services; (xi) effects of changes in the competitive environment, which may include decreased market share, lack of acceptance of price increases, and/or negative changes to our geographic and product mix of sales; (xii) Caterpillar's ability to successfully implement Caterpillar Production System or other productivity initiatives; (xiii) international trade and investment policies, such as import quotas, capital controls or tariffs; (xiv) failure of Caterpillar or Cat Financial to comply with financial covenants in their respective credit facilities; (xv) adverse changes in sourcing practices for our dealers or original equipment manufacturers; (xvi) additional tax expense or exposure; (xvii) political and economic risks associated with our global operations, including changes in laws, regulations or government policies, currency restrictions, restrictions on repatriation of earnings, burdensome tariffs or quotas, national and international conflict, including terrorist acts and political and economic instability or civil unrest in the countries in which Caterpillar operates; (xviii) currency fluctuations, particularly increases and decreases in the U.S. dollar against other currencies; (xix) increased payment obligations under our pension plans; (xx) inability to successfully integrate and realize expected benefits from acquisitions; (xxi) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or investigations; (xxii) imposition of significant costs or restrictions due to the enactment and implementation of health care reform legislation and proposed financial regulation legislation; (xxiii) changes in accounting standards or adoption of new accounting standards; (xxiv) adverse effects of natural disasters; and (xxv) other factors described in more detail under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Part I of our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 19, 2010 for the year ended December 31, 2009 and in Part II of our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 3, 2010 for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. These filings are available on our website at www.cat.com/sec_filings.
SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.
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