Caterpillar says dealer machinery sales up 32 percent

BOSTON (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) said that sales by its dealers of its heavy equipment rose 32 percent in the three months ended in July, led by strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

The trailing-three-month growth rate for global machinery sales has risen since May, the Peoria, Illinois-based company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

Dealer machinery sales in the Asia-Pacific region were up 41 percent for the three-month period, while sales in North America were up 38 percent. The slowest growth rate came in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where sales were up 19 percent, lagging 32 percent growth in Latin America.

Dealer sales of reciprocating and turbine engines were also up for the three month period, but at a more modest 5 percent rate.

Doug Oberhelman, the new chief executive of the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, is due to brief analysts about Caterpillar's plans in a meeting beginning at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Thursday.

(Reporting by Scott Malone, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)