OSHKOSH, WIS. (March 24, 2004) – Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NYSE: OSK], a leading manufacturer of trucks and truck bodies, announced today that the U.S. Marine Corps awarded the company a Phase I System Development and Demonstration Contract to supply three Logistic Vehicle System Replacement (LVSR) trucks. Under this contract, which is the first phase of a two-part acquisition competition for up to 1,022 vehicles, the three trucks will be delivered to the Marines for extensive durability and performance testing within 12 months.
“We are excited to have this opportunity to demonstrate Oshkosh’s ability to deliver remarkable military vehicle performance and exceptional value for money. As is the case with the MTVRs that Oshkosh is currently supplying, the Marines value the ability to keep pace in an off-road environment with the maneuver force. Our commitment is to providing that capability, along with the reliability, technology, reduced logistics footprint and quality that the Marine Corps demands for its trucks,” said Robert G. Bohn, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Oshkosh Truck Corporation.
The all-wheel-drive LVSR trucks proposed by Oshkosh feature a cab-forward design and can transport 22.5 tons on highway and 16.5 tons cross-country.
The LVSR program will allow the Marine Corps to replace its aging fleet of heavy logistics vehicles with new, state-of-the-art tactical trucks for cargo, wrecker and tractor applications. The newest vehicles in their current heavy fleet of approximately 4000 vehicles are almost 20 years old and were built by Oshkosh in the early 1980s.
Oshkosh is one of two companies selected for the Phase I evaluation contract. Competition for the Phase II award will be limited to those companies that successfully complete Phase I evaluation. Phase I testing, along with the Phase II proposal, will determine the single supplier of the next generation of LVSR for the U.S. Marine Corps.
Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NYSE: OSK] is a leading manufacturer of specialty trucks and truck bodies for the defense, fire and emergency, concrete placement and refuse hauling markets. Oshkosh Truck is a Fortune 1000 company with products marketed under the Oshkosh®, Pierce®, McNeilus®, Medtec®, Geesink and Norba brand names. The company is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wis., and had annual sales of $1.9 billion in fiscal 2003.
To learn more about Oshkosh Truck Corporation, visit its web site at www.oshkoshtruckcorporation.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that the company believes are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding the company’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital spending and debt levels, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as the company “expects,” “intends,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” or “believes” and similar expressions 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, without limitation, risks related to reductions in government expenditures, the uncertainty of government contracts and the possibility that expected cost savings will not be achieved nor future plans realized. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
