How AI Is Changing the Way Consumers Buy Tires

Komal Choong is the co-founder of Tire Pig, an AI-powered tire shopping platform, and Zohr, a mobile tire installation service operating in Kansas City and Dallas-Fort Worth. Born in India and raised in Kansas City, Komal and his brother cut their teeth in the restaurant business before turning a shared obsession with cars into a venture; flipping parts, then full vehicles, then launching Zohr in 2015 to fix the tire-buying experience they kept finding broken.

A decade in, Komal has built a customer base of premium-vehicle owners who pay for convenience, and he's now putting that audience in front of an AI engine that ranks tires by performance data rather than brand relationships. Tire Pig's public beta is live, with a membership model that pairs tires with roadside, flat repair, and road hazard coverage built around the same service-first thesis.

EPISODE SPONSOR

This episode of the Gain Traction Podcast is sponsored by Cosmo Tires. Cosmo Tires offers a wide range of tire solutions designed for durability, reliability, and performance across multiple vehicle segments. Learn more at https://www.cosmotires.com

In this episode…

The tire-buying decision is moving out of the shop and onto the customer's phone. Komal's platform pulls thousands of data points on every tire available in a buyer's market, weights them against where the customer lives and what they drive, and surfaces three options out of 150, with zero brand favoritism. Brand-loyalty pitches at the counter are losing power because the customer walks in already knowing which three tires fit their car best.

The install side is shifting just as fast. Mobile installers run on the customer's schedule, not the bay's. Online buyers expect a concierge handoff that puts tires in their driveway or routes them to a partner shop without a phone call. Shop owners who treat themselves as the destination keep losing margin to brokers who treat themselves as the network. Komal lays out the model, DoorDash for tires, plus a membership wrapper, that's pulling high-value customers off the dealership and chain-shop conveyor belt.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[01:30] Komal's path from restaurants to flipping cars to founding Zohr in 2015

[05:27] How Tire Pig's AI ranks tires against where you live, what you drive, and your priorities

[08:51] The two install paths: ship-to-door DIY or concierge handoff to a partner shop

[12:12] Inside Zohr's mobile tire shop model running in Kansas City and Dallas-Fort Worth

[15:26] The Tire Pig membership: flat repair, roadside, road hazard, and monthly coffee

[17:34] Why "nerd mode" gives enthusiasts the full data stack behind every recommendation

[19:05] Cutting brand bias by narrowing 150 tires to three based on performance data

[22:13] Leading with empathy and putting the customer's perspective ahead of the sale

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Komal Choong on LinkedIn
• Tire Pig Website
• Zohr Website
• Tread Partners
• Gain Traction Podcast on YouTube
• Gain Traction Podcast Website
• Mike Edge on LinkedIn

Quotable Moments:

• "We want to give the power back to the consumer."
• "We're simply trying to provide the best unbiased recommendation based on data that's available online."
• "It's as easy as buying something on Amazon, maybe even easier, because the decision process has been simplified significantly."
• "The whole entire idea is trying to make tires a little bit less confusing, so people can make a better decision for themselves."
• "We've always kind of put ourselves in the consumer shoes before we even put ourselves in our own shoes sometimes."

Action Steps:

1. Audit last month's tire tickets to see how often the same three SKUs show up, then align your counter pitch with the data-backed shortlist customers now expect from AI-powered tire shopping platforms.
2. Apply to become a Tire Pig install partner in your market before a competitor down the road claims the default spot on the network map.
3. Stand up a mobile install option, even a single van, and route it to fleet accounts and high-end residential customers willing to pay a premium to skip the lobby.
4. Bundle every tire install into a 12-month membership at checkout that covers rotations, alignments, a flat repair credit, and road hazard coverage.
5. Train your service writers to confirm or beat an AI-vetted top three with local intelligence on regional wet-traction performance, fitment quirks, and current rebate stacking.