Episode summary
Oshkosh Corporation CEO John Pfeifer on Innovation at CES 2026 | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 8 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: John Pfeifer
Summary
John Pfeifer says Oshkosh Corporation is mostly a commercial business, with about 10% of revenue tied to defense, so he was cautious about comments on the president’s recent remarks about defense contractors and corporate payouts. He said the company has been working through a shifting tariff environment by making its supply chain more nimble and doing what he called “tariff engineering” with engineers and supply-chain teams to move or reshore parts where possible.
He also defended Oshkosh’s new U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicle program, saying production is fully underway and the fleet is already operating in almost every state. Pfeifer said the Postal Service still chooses the propulsion mix and that it has not changed under the Trump administration, with about 70% battery electric and 30% internal combustion. He added that Oshkosh is at or ahead of the Postal Service’s current delivery requirements.
On autonomy, Pfeifer said Oshkosh already has “a lot of moments of autonomy” across product lines, from construction equipment to airports and environmental services. He said airport operations are likely to be the first place full autonomy shows up, and that the company is showcasing autonomous vehicles at CES, including concepts for taxiing aircraft and “wing walking” support.
Key takeaways
- Pfeifer says only about 10% of Oshkosh revenue comes from defense, limiting the direct impact of Washington’s latest defense-company scrutiny.
- The company has been adjusting supply chains through “tariff engineering” to cope with global tariff changes, but still has more work to do in 2026.
- Oshkosh says the Postal Service vehicle program is in production nationwide, with about 70% battery electric and 30% internal combustion units.
- Pfeifer expects full autonomy to appear first in airport applications, where Oshkosh is demoing autonomous ground vehicles at CES.
Notable quotes
“a minority of our of the revenue for Oshkosh Corporation comes through the defense uh business that we have. In fact, it's about 10% of our revenue”
“we went about being nimble and and uh got a lot of engineers and a lot of our supply chain professionals on tariff engineering work”
“All systems go on this product. It's in production. and it's in almost every state in the United States today delivering mail”
“It's about seven today. That's about 70% battery electric and about 30% internal combustion”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio.
John Feifer 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. It 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, buybacks, CEO salaries at defense companies, also saying institutional investors can't buy homes in the US. In your view, the president getting involved in day-to-day matters for companies.
Is the president overstepping here?
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. So, it's been, you know, haven't fully process it processed it yet.
But I'll just let you know that um a minority of our of the revenue for Oshkosh Corporation comes through the defense uh 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 and uh 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. 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 how we serve those segments.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ces 2026
- autonomy
- ai technology
- electrification
- connectivity
Companies and tickers mentioned
- OSK
- Oshkosh Corporation
- JLG
- Pierce
- MAXIMETAL
- McNeilus
- IMT
- Jerr-Dan
- Frontline Communications
- Pratt Miller
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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