再Three-wheeled transport - Tuk-tuk, February 22nd 2014 P59 (軽三輪自動車ートゥクトゥク)
They are most commonly associated with the teeming cities of developing Asia, but three-wheeled moterised rickshaws, or tuk-tuks, first emerged in Japan and Italy just over half a century ago. Since then the compact, cheap and adaptable vehicles have spread to every corner of the globe. Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Peru, Sri Lanka and Thailand are the biggest markets. They are increasingly seen chugging through the streets of cities in east Africa, the Middle East and China. The tuk-tuk's rising popularity in Egypt is worrying its military-backed government. On February 12th it imposed a one-year ban on imports of three-wheelers (and motorbikes). Unlikely as it sounds, ministers claim they being used as getaway vehicles by criminals. The narrow, uneven streets in Shubra, a sprawing suburb in northern Cairo, are no place for cars. Most tuk-tuks are used as taxis, usually shared between three drivers who club together to buy one for about 19,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,760) and take turns to work shift. In India, milkmen use them for their rounds and parents pack their children off to school in them. In Sri Lanka they are often the family car. Since buyers are usually poor, financing is important. Sales of tuk-tuks in Egypt have risen by 50% to 60,000 a year since 2011, when Ghabbour Auto, the sole importer of Indian-made Bajaj rickshaws, introduced a loan scheme. India is the biggest producer, turning out more than 530,000 tuk-tuks a year for the local market and a further 300,000 for export. Bajaj, the market leader, competes with two domestic firms, Mahindra & Mahindra and TVS, and with Piaggio of Italy, which has a factory in Pune. Thailand's producers mainly cater to domestic demand, but Chett Taikratoke, the owner of one of them, Tuk-Tuk Thailand, says he plans to start exporting to growing Middle Eastern markets. In the Gulf, for example, hotels have become significant buyers of rickshaws, to ferry guests around. Passengers seem to enjoy riding in tuk-tuks, but elites and governments are prone to view them as a noisy and dirty urban blight. Thailand banned them briefly in the 1980s. Mumbai, India's biggest city, and Mombasa, Kenya's second-biggest, ban them from parts of the central business district to keep the streets clear. Sri Lanka's government has sharply raised customs duties on them. In India customers cannot simply walk into a showroom and buy a tuk-tuk as they would a car or motorbike, says C.K.Rao, an executive at Bajaj；they must get a permit from the regional authority. Tuk-tuk manufacturers are innovating to alleviate the authorities' concerns and attract new customers. Some of Piaggio's models now run on compressed natural gas rather than diesel. An Australian firm, Star8Solar, is developing sunlight-powered tuk-tuks. Thailand's Tuk-Tuk Factory is designing a ゛tuk-tuk limo゛to hold six people rather than two. But Bajaj is hedging its bets. Its latest auto-rickshaw, the RE60, looks more like a mini-car, with an enclosed cabin and four wheels.
