Happy Anniversary, Caterpillar Inc!
May 22, 2011, marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the company's official name change from Caterpillar Tractor Co. to Caterpillar Inc.
The Caterpillar Tractor Co. name had been in existence since April 15, 1925. When Caterpillar purchased The Holt Manufacturing Company and C.L. Best Tractor Co. a month later, the new company had only one product family - track-type tractors. The Holts brought the Caterpillar name along with the 2-Ton, 5-Ton and 10-Ton Tractors to the company, while Best offered the Thirty and Sixty Tractors.
Throughout the remainder of the1920s, the company continued to improve the product line, introducing the first Caterpillar-designed track-type tractor in 1927.
In 1931, Caterpillar began to offer motor graders, diesel engines and diesel tractors. The following decades saw many other product lines added to the Caterpillar Tractor Co. portfolio.
When the Board of Directors proposed dropping "Tractor Co." from the name in April 1986, diesel engines accounted for one fifth of the company's business, and subsidiary companies were involved in financial services, world trade, insurance, venture capital and cogeneration projects.
In a letter to employees, then-Chairman of the Board George Schaefer said the proposed change to Caterpillar Inc. would bring the company name up to date for marketing purposes in particular.
"This name retains the valuable Caterpillar identification - yet isn't as confining as Caterpillar Tractor Co.," he wrote.
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