(Reuters) -Caterpillar said on Tuesday that Chief Operating Officer Joe Creed would succeed Jim Umpleby as CEO, a move that comes as the construction equipment maker braces for an economic downturn brought on by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Umpleby, who has been with the company for more than four decades, held the top job for the last eight years and guided the firm through a demand and supply chain downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Umpleby will hand over the reins to 49-year-old Creed, who has worked at Caterpillar for 28 years and has been in various leadership roles.
“Historically, this means there will be consistency and continuity rather than any big changes in strategy or tactics,” Jefferies analyst Stephen Volkmann said.
“I would not expect any meaningful changes at the company for at least a year or two, if at all.”
Caterpillar had reaped the benefits from former President Joe Biden’s 2021 infrastructure law, a $1 trillion enactment aimed at upgrading roads, bridges and other transport infrastructure.
However, the initial demand surge from those projects has waned as construction equipment makers face growing demand uncertainty due to high borrowing costs and persistent inflation.
Caterpillar shares have lost nearly 18% of their value this year.
The company, set to report its first-quarter results later this month, had previously forecast a slight decline in sales for 2025.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas, Shounak Dasgupta and Anil D’Silva)
