Caterpillar CEO Calls For More Competition

Construction heavyweight Caterpillar is calling on Chinese construction equipment manufacturers to step up and create a more competitive global landscape.

Seth Perlman

**FILE** Rows of heavy Caterpillar equipment sits ready for shipment at the Caterpillar plant in Decatur, Ill.,in this April 20, 2007 file photo. For American companies with operations that stretch overseas, the slumping dollar has become a fiscal life preserver amid slower domestic economic growth and waning sales. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, file)

"The more competition we see, the stronger we are for it,” Caterpillar’s chief executive Doug Oberhelman, told CNBC Wednesday.

"In that way, we know what they (competitors) are doing and...in our 85 year history, that has been good for business."

Oberhelman said that the U.S.-based firm is looking to expand its market share in China, which currently makes up less than 10% of the group's profit.

"We're doing as much as we can to really get after the Chinese market," he said.

He clarified that Caterpillar's China strategy does not involve exporting products manufactured on the mainland.

"Everything we make here, stays here...and that's good for our business, and I think good for our Chinese customers too," he added.

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