Sudarat Kara was just 22 when he launched his online tyre-selling business, Tires Tech (TT), in 2004. A lively character, originally from Chiang Mai, Kara claims his company sells tyres for about 40 percent less than high street outlets and motor dealers. Customers order their tyres on the internet or by phone, and then drive to a garage where the tyres will have been delivered for fitting. Now Kara is about to expand into a new sector, offering motorists servicing via a partnership with KIT, a major Thai components distributor, to offer servicing via the network of nearly 1,000 independent garages through which his business already fits tyres.