Caterpillar Inc
Tracing its origins to a 1925 merger between Holt Manufacturing Company and the C.L Best Company, Caterpillar Inc built the majority of its operations on manufacturing tractors that played an important support role in World War I. Responsible for shipping 1,200 tractors to England, France and Russia, Caterpillar's tractors, despite being designed for agricultural purposes, were sent directly to the battlefront for the purpose of hauling artillery and supplies. After the war, the company pivoted towards road construction equipment during the 1920s after the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 funded a US$1 billion federal highway building program. Caterpillar ultimately reorganized into its current form in 1986 when it moved its corporations to Delaware.
Currently headquartered out of Peoria Illinois, Caterpillar offers over 400 products through its dealer network including an extensive line of machines that range from tracked tractors to hydraulic excavators, agricultural tractors and locomotives. Considered the world's largest manufacturer of wheel loaders, Caterpillar medium and large sized wheel loaders are among their flagship products. Additional major products offered include a line of on road trucks, most notably the Cat CT666--a Class 8 vocational truck--, diesel and natural gas turbines including a series of ACERT diesel engines, as well as several defense products such as the UK's Trojan combat engineering tank and the Swiss Piranha III light armored vehicle.
On the back of the post war construction boom, Caterpillar grew at a rapid rate, developing into a multinational corporation with noteworthy expansions into developing markets including its $125 million USD Caterpillar Suzhou facility in the People's Republic of China. With factories located in Russia, Germany, India, and China, much of Caterpillar's growth has been through acquisitions domestically and internationally including the recent acquisition of Electro-Motive Diesel for $820 Million USD in 2010. Recent major developments within the company including this acquisition suggest the corporation hope a rebounding US economy accompanies an increased demand for rail cars and manufacturing equipment. Furthermore, they are positioned to capitalize on growth in emerging markets such as India and China with significant investments in manufacturing within the two countries.
