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To: 2MAR$ who wrote (49552)	4/16/2002 3:41:12 PM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 208838

=DJ Caterpillar Sees -2: Dealer Inventories Reasonable North American dealers added 20 new Caterpillar rental stores in the first quarter, raising the total to 265. The company expects 15 more to be added this year. In total, there are 1,220 rental outlets. Caterpillar's Anderson said used equipment prices fell in the quarter, and "we expect continued weakness in the near term." He pointed out that prices on used equipment tend to lag by one quarter. Dealer machine inventories for North America were up 8%-15% in March 2002 from February 2002, but down 8%-15% at the end of March versus a year ago. Anderson said inventory levels at the end of March compared with year end are up about $250 million as dealers prepare for the new selling season. However, the seasonal increase was 25% less than that of a year ago as dealers are more comfortable with Caterpillar's ability to reduce lead times for shipments from its factories. "Dealer inventories are at reasonable levels so that an increase in retail demand will translate into increased sales by Cat," Anderson said. Caterpillar expects worldwide dealer's new-machine inventories to decrease between $100 million and $200 million this year. Dealer inventors are lower as a percentage of sales than they were a year ago. For instance, dealers outside North American have inventories equal to 2.6 months of sales versus 3.1 months a year ago. North American dealers have inventory at 2.4 months of sales versus 2.6 months a year ago. -Michael McHugh, Dow Jones Newswires, (312) 750-4142 michael.mchugh@dowjones.com (END) DOW JONES NEWS 04-16-02