There are two things Glenn Tan hates: travelling and taxi drivers. Which is a little ironical, given he is in the car business.

Tan, who turned 29 yesterday, is the chief executive of Motor Image Group, which distributes Subaru cars in Singapore, China, Hong Kong and neighbouring countries, including the WRX models favoured by racers.

He travels about twice a week to these countries, but he is a reluctant frequent flyer.

"It's a pain to have to wake up at six in the morning, and air travel nowadays isn't the easiest to do," he gripes. "There's passport check, boarding pass check, security check, they make you take out your laptop, every damn thing."

The animosity against cabbies stems from being rear-ended by them too often.

"Taxi drivers who can't drive shouldn't be allowed on the roads. They're hazards to humans," he goes on.

He even gleefully tells you that he upgraded his car horn to one with a more robust (read: ear-piercing) timbre recently, and saves it almost exclusively for taxis.

Same goes for the swearing, which he does 'all the time'.

"Sometimes, I feel I should just let them smash me because then, my workshop will get business."

If he sounds like a brash young man, well, he is.

Then again, maybe he has some reason to be. At an age when most people are just starting to make it up the corporate rung to middle management, he has been commanding a company of 400 employees since he was 25, when he was appointed group chief executive.

He is entitled to refer to his staff as 'my people', the vehicles he sells as 'my cars', and the garage he runs as 'my workshop'.

He can even call it 'my company' if he wants to because Motor Image happens to be part of Tan Chong International, a family business that goes back four generations, and Tan happens to be the great-grandson of founder Tan Chong.

The latter, a Malaysian food merchant, went into distributing Nissan cars from Japan, then known as Datsun, in the 1950s. Listed Tan Chong International still represents Nissan in Singapore. Its chairman is Tan Eng Soon, 58, Tan's father.

Which leads to the question Tan is all too familiar with: What does a rich kid like him know about business, let alone the cut-throat business of selling cars?

"I don't need to prove them wrong. You can see from the number of cars on the road," he says quickly, shrugging like he's heard this question one too many times.

"My father is chairman of the company and he has a lot of other things to take care of. I don't think he can manage the business for me."

Power of PR

To drive home his point, he rattles off some figures: In 2001 when he first joined Motor Image, the company sold 800 Subarus in the region. Last year, it moved 4,100 units of the Japanese marque.

It is targeting to sell 10,000 to 15,000 cars regionally in the next five years.

"Nothing has fundamentally changed about the cars, but the volume has gone up. I don't need to show them that, eh, I'm very clever," he says.

Indeed, many in the industry say that he has created mainstream awareness for a niche brand of cars.

He doubled the number of models available here and went on a sponsorship spree by lending its name to high-profile events like the Subaru Palm Challenge - the hand-on-car test of endurance.

He also jumpstarted Singapore's dormant car assembly industry by building Subaru WRX race cars for export.

It helps that the former Anglo-Chinese School boy with a business management degree from Santa Clara University in California knows the power of public relations and is always ready with a quote here, a picture opportunity there.

Those in the media sometimes snigger at how his overzealous PR people are always peddling him to them for interviews. As one motor journalist puts it: "COE prices have dropped, do you want a quote from Glenn?"

Still, compared to the more conservative styles of other scions of car business founding families here, like Tan Kheng Hwee of Kah Motor which distributes Honda and Kevin Kwee of Group Exklusiv which distributes the China-made Geely, the edge and creativity that Tan has injected into his brand has earned him nods from industry observers.

Public tantrums

But it seems the heir to the Tan Chong empire may need to polish those PR skills a little harder - those in the motor trade and even former employees paint him as a spoilt brat not above throwing public tantrums.

One source recalls witnessing him 'throw a fit' at a Subaru event in Malaysia?s Sepang International Circuit two years ago when an employee drove his car around the track without his permission.

"He was cussing for 10 minutes like a man gone mad, and in front of all his Subaru customers. That spoilt the day for a lot of people," says the source.

Another insider sums up the general industry sentiment: "He might have done well as CEO, but he has some way to go in terms of personal conduct."

When you turn up for this interview at his office in Subaru Hub in Toa Payoh, you sense a similar moment might just have taken place.

Although you had arrived at the stipulated time, his PR person tells you that Tan has just gone out for lunch. Meetings all morning and he hasn't eaten, she says soberly and looking - unintentionally - a little troubled.

When he steps in 20 minutes later with a marketing manager trailing, you sense he isn't in the best of moods. Missing is that toothy grin often seen in pictures. No small talk either, but you get a firm handshake.

Of medium build with a regular buzz cut and an understated sartorial style - regular black lace-up shoes and dress pants - Tan isn't likely to stand out in a room full of men.

But there is that booming voice matched by an amazing speed with which words tumble out of his mouth, often embellished with sound effects.

He makes no bones about his fiery temper when you ask him about it, admitting: "I like to scold people."

He adds: "At the end of the day, customers are the ones paying for the car. If you cannot deliver, you better wake up your ideas and get out."

Has he fired anybody? "Many. Over 100 people."

It comes as no surprise when he tells you that his employees have nicknamed him Taz, after the Looney Tunes cartoon character, the Tasmanian Devil.

Tan says it's because he's always 'running around and very animated'.

In fact, his office is decked out in Taz memorabilia, which is second only to a rather unusual collection of close to 200 mineral water bottles lining one side of the conference room.

He started collecting the unopened bottles when he realised he was taking many of them home in his bag during his overseas work trips.

You ask him to pick a favourite and he takes his time browsing the collection, before pulling out one from China called Wahaha. "I just can't get over the name," he says with a smile.

'Taz' is no speed demon.

When Tan gets into his unapologetic rants, he is, strangely, quite entertaining. He doesn't bother to sugarcoat his comments or act nice - what you see is what you get.

But for all his loud ways, he seems to have simple tastes. He is wearing the same electric blue Subaru shirt that every Motor Image employee wears. He implemented the dress code when he took over the company because he "didn't want to wear a tie anymore".

He says he still lives with his parents in a house near the Botanic Gardens because he's not around "long enough to appreciate my own bachelor pad".

His mother, Tan-Wee Beng Yan, 56, owns the high-end multi-label Tyan Boutique in Ngee Ann City and Palais Renaissance. His sister Gillian, 27, is married.

She helps to run Tyan and has her own TV production house, Munkysuperstar Pictures, which produced the dating show, Eye For A Guy.

Two other younger sisters, Gayle, 21, and Jenna, 19, are attending university in the US.

He prefers his favourite bak chor mee stall in Balestier Road to fancy restaurants.

And the only hint that the black Subaru B9 Tribeca SUV and silver limited-edition Subaru S204 sitting in the carpark are his, is the small print on the licence plates that say 'Tazzy's Tribeca' and 'Tazzy's S204'.

"To me, image is not important. I don't need to drive a fancy sports car to show people. Some people do it but it goes to show they're compensating for something that's lacking," he sniffs.

The S204 may not be a Ferrari, but the high-performance machine gets a lot of attention on the roads from those in the know, and looking for a race, especially since there are fewer than five of these in Singapore.

"There's no necessity for me to race with them. I know I will beat them. I don't have an ego problem."

Tan, whose first car after he passed his driving test in the United States at the age of 17 was the genial-looking Subaru Outback wagon, insists he's no speed demon either.

"I just like to go quickly from zero to 80," he says, adding that he doesn't get a thrill from driving at high speeds "because I've driven on the track many times".

His childhood was a jet-setting one spent travelling with his parents who often went on work trips to Japan, Hong Kong and Europe; and to Malaysia for family reunions.

He says he always knew he wanted to sell cars. The Nissan showroom in Bukit Timah Road was his playground and matchbox cars were his toys of choice.

When his father brought home brochures of new car models, he would hoard them, poring through the catalogues even though everything was in Japanese.

He joined the business straight out of university, starting in the property division of Tan Chong before moving on to Motor Image in 2001.

He says his social life has 'by far' taken the worst hit because of his career, but he doesn't see it as a sacrifice. "This is not just a job, it's a responsibility from my grandfather and father. I don't question why," he says matter-of-factly.

The last of his five serious relationships ended last August, a victim of too little time, too much suspicion, he says.

His ex-girlfriend, who is half-Singaporean, half-Indonesian and based in Jakarta, had heard rumours about Tan's roving eye.

"I don't understand it because I'm actually not a playboy," he says. "People probably think that because they see me everywhere and there's the persona that you're rich and young and in a position of power, many girls will flock to you."

He's a Zouk regular, hitting the club with his friends every Friday night, sometimes seen chomping on cigars.

Girls, he insists, don't flock to him. "I'm very particular. If I meet new people, I'm not always interested in talking to them. I don't care," he says with another shrug.

What he cares for is someone who can "engage me in intellectually stimulating conversation".

He's now single, but 'not happily' so.

"Whoever tells you they're single and happy is lying. When you're all by yourself and you're bored, you see whether you enjoy being single or not."

Despite his privileged upbringing, he says he has no problems connecting with his staff, right down to the workshop mechanics. He just needs to turn on his Ah Beng accent, which he does with little effort, and something he's put to good use - his alter ego is Ah Seng from Ah Seng Aquarium, a familiar voice in radio commercials for Subaru.

As to whether he will eventually take over the reins from his father, Tan doesn't commit.

"I think my father's idea is he wants to leave the business to whoever is capable of running it. So if his son is a moron, then too bad for him, no business."

But given how he's proven himself so far, this young man - ballsy but brash - is no moron for sure.

"I had hundreds and hundreds of toy cars, keys and key chains. I threw them out because, now, I've got too many of my own keys" - On his privileged childhood.

"Nobody's called me a Daddy's boy before because my father is not afraid to scold me in front of other people" - On being labelled

"He said, if I give you a container of fish, you can eat for three months. If I teach you how to fish, you can eat forever" - On the biggest lesson his father has taught him

"I always tell my people, please feel free to make mistakes but learn from your mistakes. If you repeatedly make the same mistake, I'll throw the book at you" - On his reputation as a hot-headed boss