Oshkosh highlights industrial technology strategy at Investor Day

Oshkosh’s most direct division to construction, the Access segment, is expected to be “the engine of growth” with the company targeting a 5-10% compound annual growth rate through 2029. This segment is led by the brand JLG, which specialises in manufacturing aerial work platforms and telehandlers.

Connected machines, autonomy with JLG

Mahesh Narang, Oshkosh Corp EVP and president of Access

JLG’s roadmap includes expanded telematics, autonomous capabilities, and digital diagnostics, as well as self-driving access platforms, automated fleet deployment and AI-based fault prediction.

The biggest highlight for the brand at Investor Day, though, was the ClearSky Smart Fleet software platform, which is now standard across its lineup.

ClearSky is a two-way fleet management and communication programme that uses cloud-based and AI-powered technology to improve productivity, uptime, and profitability. It combines connectivity and telematics applications into one location alongside over-the-air and remote capabilities to assist with machine lockouts, geofencing parameters and other operational settings.

Mahesh Narang, executive vice president of Access at Oshkosh, said, “We can do far-connectivity and near-connectivity with audio and visual cues to quickly locate a machine in a crowded job site… [and] do insights: fuel level status, battery status, and many more things that make the assets more productive.”

Additionally, the programme is said to allow a lift operator to manage two machines at once; this was illustrated by animation during Investor Day.

“Rather than just enabling a job like taking a person to height to do the job, we can now automate tasks and execute jobs,” Narang noted of ClearSky’s capabilities.

He said JLG is already piloting systems where “two of our machines talk to each other to automate jobs”, noting further advancements on automation and remote-operation are underway.

Oshkosh’s global strategy, regional channels, and recent M&A

Oshkosh also highlighted regional repositioning efforts to support growth outside North America.

Narang said, “Our share in North America is extremely high in telehandlers, but we have a lot of room to grow globally,” noting that the same telehandler models will now be “made in global factories to help us grow the telehandler market globally.”

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This includes nearshoring efforts in response to global trade tariffs.

“In less than a year, we moved up production of booms from China to our factory in Europe, in Italy, which helped us completely mitigate the impact of tariffs,” he said, and he expects more regional-specific product developments as a result, including in Asia. “From an industry standpoint, we are seeing an increasing need by our customers to configure products to specific applications based on the regions they are in.

“[For example], we recently launched the EZ450 boom that combined tech from other booms to build a really compact boom for our European customers.”

Oshkosh also pointed to recent acquisitions aimed at strengthening its European footprint and product range. These include Spanish equipment manufacturer Ausa and Italian tracked lift maker Hinowa.

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Matthew Field, Oshkosh CFO, said the company had “partnered over many years” with Hinowa, adding that acquiring the brand allowed Oshkosh to localise production and improve parts availability in Europe.

He also called AUSA a “good acquisition” that enhances agricultural expansion and supports the Access strategy.

Oshkosh also addressed regional growth plans and distribution strategies. Narang said the company is actively expanding its dealer footprint to support international growth in telehandlers and a push into agricultural applications.

“We are signing up new dealers every month,” he said.

The company is also deepening its focus on the North American rental market and complementary specialty sectors, especially in agriculture.

Oshkosh committed to electrification

JLG showed the Galileo multi-use mobile elevating work platform, which can be used as both a telehandler and a boom lift, alongside the Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR), a mobile charging solution, at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. (Image: Becky Schultz)

Electrification was also a major focus across segments.

“More than 80% of Oshkosh’s portfolio is electrifiable,” the company said, with more than 20 electric models already offered by JLG.

It projected electric vehicle adoption across its markets will grow “seven-times over the next five years”, driven by total cost of ownership gains, infrastructure readiness, and favourable policy.

Oshkosh’s Vocational segment, which includes US-based McNeilus’ concrete mixers and refuse trucks, is building flexible, standardised electric vehicle architecture (including components like batteries, motors and control systems) that can be reused across multiple types of vehicles.

“We are investing in common core architectures and propulsion systems that allow us to scale solutions across end markets,” the company said.

Stage 3 electrification efforts include ongoing field testing of battery-electric work trucks, including McNeilus models, Oshkosh said.

And it’s not just new or future machines that will go electric; the company is building today’s units to be adapted. In Access, Narang said the modular design of JLG’s products means “a customer that buys a diesel product today can easily convert it to EV when the tech changes.”

Investor Day served as a high-level overview of ongoing and future Oshkosh operations, and more detailed product announcements and financial guidance are expected later this year.