OSHKOSH, Wis. (September 5, 2006) – Oshkosh Truck Corporation (NYSE:OSK) announced today that the company has been selected by the U.S. Office of Naval Research to perform a conceptual design and mockup, science and technology program for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program. The Office of Naval Research, in concert with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, is supporting the JLTV program to develop a family of light tactical wheeled vehicles with superior survivability characteristics and enhanced payload.
Specifications defined by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps for the JLTV family of vehicles address capabilities gaps and increase force protection, survivability, fuel-efficiency, capacity, maneuverability and automotive safety balanced with the total cost of ownership. Vehicles also must meet current weight and dimension requirements for transportability aboard ships and aircraft.
“Meeting these and other specifications simultaneously requires our advanced and innovative expertise,” said John Stoddart, Oshkosh’s executive vice president and president, defense. “We’re proud to contribute to the JLTV program by advancing these state-of-the-art technologies.”
The work that Oshkosh Truck will perform involves a component technology review and the development of modeling and simulation programs, as well as conceptual designs of future technologies for the JLTV program. Work is expected to be completed during the second quarter of fiscal 2007.
About Oshkosh Truck Corporation
Oshkosh Truck Corporation is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty commercial, fire and emergency and military trucks and truck bodies. Oshkosh’s products are valued worldwide by fire and emergency units, defense forces, municipal and airport support services, and concrete placement and refuse businesses where high quality, superior performance, rugged reliability and long-term value are paramount.
For more information about Oshkosh Truck Corporation, log onto the company web site at www.oshkoshtruckcorporation.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include the Company’s ability to continue the turnaround of its Geesink Norba Group business, the cyclical nature of the Company’s commercial and fire and emergency markets, risks related to reductions in government expenditures, the uncertainty of government contracts, the availability of defense truck carcasses for remanufacturing, the challenges of identifying acquisition candidates and integrating acquired businesses, risks associated with the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system at McNeilus®; the success of the RevolutionÒ composite concrete mixer drum, the availability of commercial chassis and certain chassis components including engines, and risks associated with international operations and sales, including foreign currency fluctuations. In addition, the Company’s expectations for fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2007 are based in part on certain assumptions made by the Company, including without limitation those relating to the Company’s ability to continue the turnaround of the business of the Geesink Norba Group sufficiently to support its current valuation resulting in no non-cash impairment charge for Geesink Norba Group goodwill; the Company’s ability to sustain flat operating income in the commercial segment and to raise operating income in its fire and emergency segment in fiscal 2007 despite anticipated lower industry demand resulting from changes to diesel engine emissions standards effective January 1, 2007; the Company’s estimates for the level of concrete placement activity, housing starts and mortgage rates; the performance of the U.S. and European economies generally; the Company’s expectations as to timing of receipt of sales orders and payments and execution and funding of defense contracts; the Company’s ability to achieve cost reductions and operating efficiencies, in particular at McNeilus and the Geesink Norba Group; the anticipated level of production and margins associated with the Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles contract, the Indefinite Demand/Indefinite Quantity truck remanufacturing contract, the MTVR follow-on contract and international defense truck contracts; the expected level of U.S. Department of Defense procurement of replacement parts and services and funding thereof; the Company’s estimates for capital expenditures of municipalities for fire and emergency and refuse products, of airports for aircraft rescue and snow removal products and of large commercial waste haulers generally and with the Company; federal funding levels for U.S. Department of Homeland Security and spending by governmental entities on homeland security apparatus; the availability of chassis components including engines and commercial chassis generally; the Company’s planned spending on product development and bid and proposal activities with respect to defense truck procurement competitions and the outcome of such competitions; the expected level of commercial “package” body and purchased chassis sales compared to “body only” sales; the Company’s ability to integrate acquired businesses and achieve expected synergies; the Company’s ability to close the Iowa Mold Tooling acquisition; the Company’s estimates of the impact of changing fuel prices and credit availability on capital spending of towing operators; anticipated levels of capital expenditures; the Company’s estimates for costs relating to litigation, acquisition investigation, product warranty, insurance, stock options and restricted stock awards, personnel and raw materials; the Company’s ability to negotiate expiring union contracts on a satisfactory basis; the Company’s estimates for debt levels, interest rates, working capital needs and effective tax rates; and that the Company does not complete any further acquisitions other than AK Specialty Vehicles and Iowa Mold Tooling. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 8-K filed today.
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