Toto toilets are probably the best toilets you can buy in the US market today. They are bit pricey than other toilet brands yet sell like hot cakes, both online and offline because of their high quality and solid performance. When buying Toto toilet very often I hear people ask, “Where is this Toto toilet made?” It’s becoming like a FAQ question before buying a Toto.
Where Are TOTO Toilets Made?
The short answer is, the Toto toilets you find for sale in the US come from a number of different countries, including toilets made in the US, Mexico, China, Vietnam, Thailand and even Japan.
However, an increasing percentage of Toto toilets sold in America are partly or fully made locally at the TOTO USA factory in Morrow, Georgia.
Many Toto toilet models with ‘II’ in the name are manufactured in the Georgia here in the US. For example, if you take the Toto Ultramax II for sale on Amazon, most are made in the USA (Though you might occasionally find the odd one from China).
With the TOTO Drake II toilets on Amazon you find most are from either USA, Vietnam or Thailand.
Sometimes among two-piece Toto toilets you will find one piece made in USA and the other piece from like Vietnam. Sometimes even in Made in USA Toto toilets you find internal parts like the flushing mechanism manufactured in a foreign Toto factory.
When you buy a Toto toilet you can’t guarantee which country it will be manufactured in. Which country your Toto is manufactured will depend on a number of factors like model, year, and the store you buy and the batch they received.
All Toto toilet are manufactured following the same Japanese and US manufacturing standards and they ensure the product quality and finish is the same with rigorous quality assurance. As a result, Toto USA can source and meet the demand from any Toto factory worldwide.
As a global brand Toto has manufacturing facilities in many countries and regions. Founded in Japan in 1917, and Toto is today a world’s leading toilet brand, famous for developing the Washlet and derivative products. Their head-office is based in Kitakyushu, Japan, but owns production facilities in a dozen countries. They have built systems to ensure toilets are produced with exact same standards in every Toto factory regardless of the location.
Toto toilets parts made in various locations and even different countries are known to work seamlessly together. The reasons for this may lie with the type of clay and production process Toto uses. Their toilets have much less variation than many other brands, but there will always be a slight variation. This is one reason why Toto can assemble up a tank made in Japan with a bowl made in the USA and have them actually fit and work well together. Their production process is that well managed. You would not see that with any other brand’s of toilets!
How To Buy A TOTO Toilet Made in USA?
But what if you want to really buy only a Toto toilet made in USA? If you really want a Toto toilet made in America you maybe able to get one. Then try your local plumbing supply houses that have decent stocks. If you are buying a newer version like Toto Drake II, you can ask them to confirm that they have the tank and bowl that is made in the US. For older Toto models like the Toto Drake they might let you pull the boxes and get you one that says, “Made in USA”.
Bright Future for TOTO Toilets Made in USA
In future there is good news for Made in US toilets. As we can see in the market an increasing percentage of Toto Toilet are made in the US at their large plant at Morrow, Georgia. Toto USA’s strategy is to make more Toto toilets in the United States.
According to Toto sources, their factory in Georgia is able to produce one-piece Toto toilets at a lower cost than the best Toto factory in China! Rising labor wages and stricter environmental controls in those developing countries are raising their manufacturing costs. As a result they have shifted their entire manufacturing strategy toward building factories closer to the regions where their products are sold. Therefore we will be seeing more Toto toilets made in USA and from closer regions like Mexico and Latin America.
Even today, TOTO has a long list of products that qualify for the “Buy American Act”, although not all may qualify to have the “Made in the USA” tag on the packaging. In addition to toilets, they have recently started assembling faucets in Georgia as well.
Thanks for the research on toto toilets made in the USA. I’m not really too particular where my products come from as long as it’s not China. I prefer to support American families tho.