Where Are Matco Tools Made And Who Owns The Company Today?

An American company from its inception, Matco was founded in 1946, but launched its mobile sales operations in 1979. Today, these mobile sales define the company's image, with Matco having over 1,900 mobile sales franchisees across North America. Matco might have started as a small business, but the company is now owned by Vontier Corporation, which is a major industrial technology company that's listed on the S&P 500.

Vontier also owns a number of other subsidiaries, but it doesn't own any other tool brands. In fact, much of what Vontier does revolves around building software for everything from fleet tracking devices to EV charging points. Vontier — and by extension, Matco — might be American companies, but that doesn't mean that all the tools they're selling are made in America. In fact, plenty aren't, although exactly where they're made varies between individual products.

Matco's toolboxes are one of its key product lines that are consistently made in America. They're assembled at a plant in Jamestown, New York, and Matco has been keen to show off its craftspeople at work in various promotional videos for its toolbox line. The prominent Matco branding that can also be seen outside the plant makes it pretty clear who the facility builds products for, in case Matco hadn't already made it clear enough in its promotional material. There are cheaper alternatives to Matco toolboxes available, but not all of them are made in America.

There's no mistaking where its toolboxes are made, but the manufacturing locations of many of its other tools are less immediately obvious. Many other tool brands are proud of making their tools in the USA, but browse through Matco's tool catalog and you'll find relatively few of the same claims. The brand's line of ratchets are among the tools that are listed as being "precision-made and hand-assembled in the USA," but many of its other hand tools and power tools offer no clear information about their origins at a glance.

Confusing matters is the fact that although most of Matco's tools feature its own branding, a number of tools available via Matco's catalog hail from other brands. Among them is Makita, which sells tools like its angle grinder and polishing kit via Matco. Makita is a Japanese brand, although its tools are built in a variety of factories around the world. The angle grinder retails via Matco for $203.95, which is over double the price that the exact same tool costs at Ace Hardware. Evidently, Matco isn't averse to significant markups, even for tools that be can easily found at other retailers.

Matco's own-brand tools have as wide a range of origins as those of its brand partners. Plenty are made outside the USA, with Asian countries manufacturing most of Matco's foreign-made tools. To take a few examples, the owner's manual of Matco's micro torch kit lists it as being made in Taiwan, while its ball joint adapter set is made in China. A range of its other tools also list Taiwan or China as their countries of origin. These disclosures can all be found in the owners' manuals of the tools, and so the manual is a good place to start if you're looking to find out more information about a particular Matco tool's origin.

However, not all Matco tool manuals clearly list a country of manufacture. The brand's 20V 1/2-inch impact wrench has no manufacturing location listed in its manual, but it does note that the tool was made by Professional Tool Products. The latter's website says the company has manufacturing facilities in the USA, China, Taiwan, India, and Vietnam.

You could potentially ask a Matco rep or Matco's customer service team for further clarification about where a particular tool was made. However, if they can't show you evidence that it was made in the USA, and the tool isn't explicitly marketed as being made in America, it's safe to assume that it was made somewhere in Asia instead.