Oshkosh Corporation CEO John Pfeifer on Innovation at CES 2026

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1:27Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business, IBM. Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevec on Bloomberg Radio. John Pfeiffer is the CEO of Oshkosh Corporation. It's a$9 billion market cap company. It's already up about 14 % so far this year, the stock gaining 32 % last year, hit a 52 week high actually today. John, good to have you on the program. We've got a lot to talk to you about. So we want to just jump right, right in the president just in the last half hour or so weighing in on social media on dividends, buyback, CEO salaries at defense companies, also saying institutional investors can't buy homes in the U.S.

2:19In your view, the president getting involved in day to day matters for companies. Is the president overstepping here?

2:27John Pfeifer:Well, I'm not going to make a comment on that. You know, we I just heard this news just like you just heard this news. It's been, you know, I haven't fully processed it, processed it yet. But I'll just let you know that a minority of our of the revenue for Oshkosh Corporation comes through the defense business that we have. In fact, it's about 10 % of our revenue. So I really don't know that this even applies to us, but we'll have to digest it and process it and see what it means. But we're mostly, you know, 90 % of our business is serving commercial markets. You talked about it in your intro.

3:04John Pfeifer:Our equipment is all over communities where we all live and work. It's critical equipment that communities where we all live and work can't operate without what we do. And that's really the nature of our company is all these commercial segments that are so important to us all and how we serve those segments. Hey, I just want to ask you one more question, then we'll move on. But in terms of the president, you know, having a president who is not bashful, John, about talking about different industries and doing certain things, does it make it maybe tricky for a CEO? Joe? Well, I mean, you know, I think in today's world, we have to be very agile and very nimble.

3:45John Pfeifer:And that's what we're focused on. You know, so as we went through 2025, we saw an environment where we had a lot of geopolitical changes. And what I mean is we saw a lot of tariff environments happen, not only by the United States, but around the world. And so we're a global company, of course. I mean, most of what we sell in the U.S. is made in the U.S. We're a quintessential American manufacturer with plants all over the U.S., but we're still a global company with global supply chains. And so we went about being nimble and got a lot of engineers and a lot of our supply chain professionals on tariff engineering work to make sure that we were trying to stay, keep pace with the current environment of where we are geopolitically and with tariffs.

4:31John Pfeifer:We've had a lot of success doing that. We still have a little bit more work to do as we go into 2026. But I think it's just an environment where you have to be very nimble and pay attention to what's going on around you and be able to adapt to it. And that's what we do our best trying to make happen. What work do you still have to do to mitigate the effects of tariffs? Well, when you look at our product, it's very sophisticated product. There's a lot of technology on our product and it's very highly engineered product. So when we look at the tariff environment and we have to say move supply from one country to another or even some things when we can reshore it, we can reshore it.

5:10John Pfeifer:But these are sophisticated components and materials. So it's not just a simple matter of moving a purchase order from one supplier to another. There's a lot of engineering and validation that goes into play. And so it takes a concerted amount of time by our supply chain people and our engineers to make it happen. So it's still more of that what I call tariff engineering work that we're continuing to do. And we're having a lot of success with it. Can you talk a little bit about the new U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicle? Because about a year ago, a little over a year ago, that Reuters reported that the transition team was actually looking to cancel part of that contract, the part that has to do with EVs.

5:53And And I'm wondering, what's the latest between you, your firm and the White House with regard to how that contract will be fulfilled? Oh, yeah.

6:01John Pfeifer:All systems go on this product. It's in production. It's in almost every state in the United States today delivering mail. We've got millions and millions of miles delivered already on these vehicles. The Postal Service absolutely loves it. The vehicle is the best last mile delivery vehicle ever produced. We produce them both internal combustion propulsion systems or battery electric propulsion systems. It depends on what the Postal Service wants in a specific market. How has that mix changed during the Trump administration? It's not changed at all. And it's not changed at all. It's still the same.

6:38John Pfeifer:So essentially what we've seen, the administration has said, hey, it's up to the Postal Service to decide what they want. if they want battery electric or if they want internal combustion. But we have seen no change in mix of orders from the United States. What is that mix? I'm just curious. It's about seven. Today, it's about 70 percent battery electric and about 30 percent internal combustion. Interesting. All right. So certainly a commitment when it comes to those vehicles. Are the issues resolved with the initial production ramp? Like, are you at a full production rate today? Hey, we're at or ahead of what the Postal Service's requirements are.

7:18John Pfeifer:Now, we're working with the Postal Service. We'll continue to produce more and more vehicles as we go forward and as their needs continue to develop. But we're at or ahead of the Postal Service's requirements for deliveries. But you'll see us continue to get more units out the door as we go forward. But, hey, it's full steam ahead with that program, and it's a great vehicle. If you Google it, NGDV, you'll see a lot of even postal carriers uploading videos of how much improvement this has given them in terms of how they do their work. It is a pretty cool vehicle. And hopefully we can put some pictures out there on social or up for our listeners and viewers.

7:59Hey, one thing I want to ask you, John, you guys are at CES. This is the land of, you know, innovation, disruption, if you will. Well, I'm curious, in your portfolio, which products are furthest along on the path to full autonomy? It feels like that's what we are constantly talking about and which are expected to be commercialized first. We have about a minute or so. Yeah.

8:19John Pfeifer:So, by the way, we already put a lot of moments of autonomy into many of our end markets, whether it's construction equipment with JLG or it's in our airport markets or in the environmental services markets like refuse and recycling. A lot of moments of autonomy. Now, you'll continue to see full autonomy probably start to come into play maybe in the airport markets first. If you come to our booth here at CES, you see autonomous vehicles all over the place. And it's applicable to last mile delivery as it is to environmental services, as it is to airports. But we'll take you through. If you have the chance to see our booth, we'll show you what the airport of the future looks like.

9:03John Pfeifer:And there's autonomous vehicles all over. Instead of having a wing walker, you've got an autonomous vehicle doing the wing walking to bring the ports in and out. An autonomous vehicle pushing jets back from the gate. John, we got to run. Come back soon.

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