Autorickshaws or Tuc tuc’s are they are called, now have a personality, a name and will be staying in a city near you, if all goes according to plan.

Anyone who has ever set foot in South Asia is aware of this tiny motorized three wheeled thing called Autos or Tuc Tuc’s in the region. Up until a few years ago, people were importing them around the world and it made big news. But what slipped under the radar was Dominic Pohhiah’s brainwave to start a fleet with these low emission vehicles in England.

Tuc Tuc Ltd, the brainchild of entrepreneur Dominic Ponniah, has been running a fleet of autorickshaws in the seaside town of Brighton since July 2006. The fleet, imported from Pune, runs on compressed natural gas (CNG). Now the company is all set to introduce the vehicle in London.

The Indian news media obviously did not do their homework and that is why we are here.

Tuk tuk is planning on launching it’s service not just in London, but also here in the USA. NYC, Miami and LA are on their list of cities where they are recruiting franchisees. And their website does not stop there, a whole bunch of cities/ countries are on the map. 12 places in Europe, Tokyo and Sydney will soon be seeing Tuc Tuc’s on their streets.

What I love about the idea is giving these eye sores in India a personality and a name, something that personalized my experience with Zipcar.

Besides being cool, these run on Compressed Natural Gas, which is not entirely green, but closer on the spectrum than Petrol or Diesel. Their new 6 seater variants will have WiFi access and a 17″ wide screen TV inside. Did I hear someone say pimp my ride?

And if you are interested in buying a Tuc tuc for personal use, it starts at around 4000 GBP at http://www.greenconversions.co.uk/.

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