Thread: Tohatsu vs. Mercury

If we all continue to by foreign products where will our grandchildren work? buy from american based companies!

Originally Posted by tinsmith

If we all continue to by foreign products where will our grandchildren work? buy from american based companies!

Though I do not intend,...nor will I ever intend,...for this post to turn into an
American vs. Foreign subject and have it turn into a huge,but needless diatribe,...if you were to look under the hood/cowl of a Mercury outboard
from 2.5 HP up to 30 HP and set it beside a Tohatsu/Nissan outboard in that
same HP range,you would see the exact same powerhead. Why? Because Tohatsu makes the powerheads for Mercury in that HP range. So,one would have to ask the question "Then what difference would it make if I bought the
Tohatsu outboard or the Mercury outboard?" Maybe not alot,but consider that even if you bought the Merc from a Mercury dealer,Mercury will see some profit from it,but Mercury still has to pay Tohatsu to build the motor's
powerhead,meaning that Tohatsu would also see some profit as well. As to how much,I can't say because I do not know. In both Mercury's and Tohatsu's case,it could be a win-win deal,meaning they both make money on the sale. Up until 2006,I think,Yamaha made the powerheads for Mercury's
four stroke outboards from the 2 HP range all the way up to I believe 115 HP.
Even if I should stick with a Mercury,I would still,in a way,be supporting Tohatsu as well since they make the powerheads for the 2.5 to 30 HP four stroke motors. Nothing is 100% made here in America anymore and Mercury's small four stroke ouitboards are a perfect example of that. Having said all that,of course,I believe if I stuck with the Mercury motor,at least it would be far more reliable since it has the Tohatsu powerhead. Just because it has an american name does not necessarily mean it is 100% made here in America. Another example would be Mercury Marine's older Mariner outboards line,...years ago made by none other than Yamaha even though they had the Mercury styling on the cowl.