Since the Bajaj RE arrived in the Philippines there has been much confusion about what type of vehicle it is, the answer is simple the Bajaj RE is a car.
Top Gear says the Bajaj RE is a Car
At 8 pm GMT on the 24th Feb 2019 the worlds most-watched and best known Motoring TV program Top Gear did a report on the Bajaj RE better known as the Tuk Tuk in Sri Lanka.
In the 1 hour episode of Top Gear British automotive journalist, racing driver and television presenter Chris Harris and American actor, comedian and television host Matt LeBlanc took two Bajaj RE on a road trip across Sri Lanka.
After putting the Bajaj RE through many tests such as city driving, tuk-tuk polo, using it to haul sacks of tea, driving them off-road and finally driving them to India. The Top Gear presenters concluded that the Bajaj RE is the most versatile car on the planet.
Yes, you did read that correct they did rank it the most versatile “car” on the planet. Throughout the hour-long episode, they referred to the Bajaj RE as ever a tuk-tuk or a car. Tuk-tuk is just the nickname given to the Bajaj Re because of the noise it makes.
If Top Gear the worlds best-known motoring TV program classes the Bajaj RE as a car you can be sure it is a car. Top Gear budget per show without the costs of presenters is £500,000 that’s 34,468,069 pesos, much of which goes on research.
With a budget like that there is little chance, they are going to make a mistake about the class of a vehicle, so unlikely to call it a car if it is not a car.
It is not a car it is a tricycle.
We have already covered the fact that the Bajaj Re is not a tricycle in a previous article.
The fact is simple Bajaj has been making 3 wheeled vehicles since 1959, they sell them in over 40 countries in the world and none of them is the Bajaj RE regarded as a tricycle.
Does LTO know something the rest of the world does not? Does LTO know better than the worlds most-watched motoring show?
There is no way the Philippines can claim it is using the correct English term and the BBC has it wrong.
Can it be that in 60 years that 40 countries have all been calling it by the wrong name and the Philippines is correct? the fact is it is the Philippines that is classing the Bajaj RE incorrectly not the rest of the world.
It can’t be a car as it does not have 4 wheels
Yes, it can be a car with three wheels, history shows us that there have been many three-wheeled cars. Some of them have left a huge mark on the motoring world.
The Oxford English Dictionary states.
Car – A road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal combustion engine and able to carry a small number of people.
Note it says typically with four wheels, it does not say it has four wheels.
So the answer is it can be a car with three wheels and the Bajaj RE is a Car.
So what difference does it being a car make?
One thing you hear a lot when people ask you about the Bajaj RE is “It is expensive.” let us think about this.
178,999 peso for a brand new car is very cheap, it only seems expensive if you incorrectly compare it to a tricycle. I have not looked into it but I am pretty sure you would not find another brand new car for less than 200k peso.
Q: If the Bajaj RE is a car and I want to use it as a PUV how would I register it?
A: You would register it in the same way as it is in the rest of the world and in the same way you would other models of cars and that is as a taxi.
Q: Taxis have meters could I fit a taxi meter to a Bajaj RE?
A: In India, the Bajaj RE is used as a taxi and they have meters fitted. Have you ever wondered why the bars behind the driving seat has 4 holes in them? The reason them 4 holes are there is to attach a taximeter.
Q: I want to use my Bajaj RE as a tricycle if it is a car can I do that?
A: That would be down to your LGU to decide, but why would you buy a car and use it as a tricycle?
As the Bajaj is a car it means you can use it as a taxi and have far fewer restrictions, you would not be restricted to a small area, for example, if you operate in Parañaque and a customer wants to go to Cubao if you drive a tricycle you can’t take them if you are regarded as a taxi you can. The result has to be more earnings.
Q: Would they allow the Bajaj RE to be used as a taxi.
A: We can not say for sure at times it seems impossible to work out the logic of LGUs and LTO in the Philippines. What we can say is the Bajaj RE is used as a taxi in over 40 countries in the world and when we say taxi we do mean taxi, meaning you can get a Bajaj to take you from one side of the city to the other or even to the next city.
It is also allowed to be used as a taxi in some cities in Europe and they have very strict safety standards. With this in mind, there seems no logical reason why they should not be allowed to be used as taxis in the Philippines.
Q: If it is a car will I have to pay more for registration.
A: Probably yes but it is a small price to pay to be allowed to use all roads apart from expressways and also get rid of the bad name of a tricycle.
It is very sad that a car that is regarded as the most versatile car on the planet is being restricted to back roads in the Philippines.
It is even sadder that they have been regarded as tricycle most of whom are not safe to be on the road.
Wake up Philippines you are facing terrible traffic problems and a way to ease them is the Bajaj RE because of its small footprint on the road, yet you are restricting it because you are failing to see it for what it is, a small very environmentally friendly, extremely versatile car that can transport 4 people in a fraction of the road space of most cars.
The Bajaj RE is a Car and having three wheels does not mean it is not a car.
Semantics. You can call it whatever you want, but if the local culture and language has identified it as what they want it to be called or identified – you are the least person to challenge that – no matter how politically correct you may be. Its called respect.
Is there a Filipino word for it? How can it be local culture when it comes from India not the Philippines. Respect is not trying to change the name of it to a tricycle when it has 60 years of history of not being called a tricycle. Respect is also respecting the owners that do not want to be lumped together with tricycles that have such a bad reputation.