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Tuk Tuk coming to USA: $10,000 starting price too high

Tuk Tuk coming to USA: $10,000 starting price too high

By: Peter Chubb | April 16, 2009 | 8 Comments

If you have ever visited Thailand, then you will have seen how primitive their roads and vehicles are. The vehicles that I am talking about it the Tuk Tuk, and although they do not look up to the job, they certainly serve their purpose. Well you will soon be able to experience these small vehicles in America as EPA and DOT have approved Tuk Tuk USA.

The Tuk Tuk is a three-wheeled machine that has the front end of a scooter and the rear end of a small passenger car. Tuk Tuk North America has now been given approval from DOT and EPA for its line of Mitsubishi-powered three-wheeler. This will mean that these small vehicles will be road legal in the United States.

These small scooter like vehicles achieve an estimated 55 miles per gallon and will come in a range of different styles. There will even be a passenger model, which will be able to transport up to 12-passengers at a time. The starting price for these Tuk Tuks starts at $10,000.

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  • Alan Dawson

    Er, actually, I live in Thailand and the roads are extremely good and the vehicles are mostly the same ones you have unless you live in a horrible country – Mercedes, Chevrolets, Toyotas, etc. About as primitive as a Ford factory, which is where some of them come from.

    Thailand exports those “primitive vehicles” to Canada, Israel, New Zealand and Japan among other countries.

    And yes, it has tuk-tuks.

  • http://bschultz118@comcast.net bill

    tuks to high at 10k seen jazzed up golf carts sell for twice that which can not be tagged or driven on street

  • John Foster

    Alan Dawson is wrong. Thailand has terrible roads. I just got back from visiting there and they are worse than any country I have visited. I live in South Korea where the roads are far superior. The United States has hands down the best roads.

  • http://www.4abetteryou.netau.net/ t.rex

    Drop that starting price about 4r 5 grand and you’d have a winner.At current price about the only real market I could see for them would be food delivery fleets (dominos chinese take out etc)

  • http://jessicasideways.com Jessica Sideways

    I have recently come back from a visit to Thailand and I want to get a tuk tuk but I am afraid that the sticker price is too high for a student like me. And with my sucky credit, I will not be able to successfully procure a loan for one – even if I try to get a business loan for it.

  • http://jessicasideways.com Jessica Sideways

    He is right, I have come back from Thailand and all of the roads that I noticed were quite good. Of course, I stayed within Bangkok and I did not get to see much of the country. When I go back to Thailand, I will definitely go to Chiang Mai, Phuket and Ayutthaya.

  • LIsom

    The road conditions here in Thailand just depend on where you go, they are great in some of the more travelled places and in the large cities but really, really bad out in the poorer districts. I have a TukTuk that I use for trips to the market and also transporting friends and family when they visit. While it can haul quite a bit of weight for it's size and also eight to ten passengers depending on their size it takes a lot of skill and muscle to drive. The three wheel configuration limits the speeds you can take corners at and if you load it very heavy at all it takes a lot of arm muscle to turn due to the motorcycle style steering handles.

  • LIsom

    Above comments continued………The tuk-tuk is extremely useful. It turns very sharp and it's size makes it easy to park in crowded parking lots, it is economical as far as fuel consumption goes and it is very easy to climb in and out of both the passenger area and the driver's seat because of the design. I do have a difficult time believing they are worth the price as stated, as the quality of parts and workmanship I have seen in Thailand Tuk-Tuks is not that great. They may work well in the U.S. in a resort type setting or for downtown delivery vehicles but other than that I can't see them being a smash hit, especially at that price