[kalt]

Not that ridiculous. First of all, it's only changing what comes standard on the car. You can order it with a spare tire if you want (for $100). The Cruze is selling very well (#1 compact in the U.S. last month).

The article also had this interesting bit:

It's a neat idea, and one which could catch on quickly -- although at last week's Challenge Bibendum event in Germany Michelin unveiled an innovation which could make punctures themselves extinct. It seems that the French tire manufacturer may finally have nailed the key to a 'flat-free tire', using an interior material capable of plugging the tire as soon as a hole appears. Michelin says that it's filed 15 patents for the "unprecedented technological breakthrough," which reports suggest could be in use as early as 2014 with considerable environmental benefits including reduced rubber usage and reduced fuel consumption.

[redgolum]

They have been working on that idea for almost 20 years. I saw an early model when I was an intern at Firestone.

Good for small punctures, not so good for large ones. But since most of the flats are because of small punctures, that is ok.

[tanknetter]

... with considerable environmental benefits including reduced rubber usage and reduced fuel consumption.

Ok how does a "puncture proof" tire produce benefits like reduced rubber usage and reduced fuel consumption? Unless they are talking about the costs involved in roadside repair (like tow trucks). Which I wouldn't quantify as "considerable".

It seems to me that they are talking about an unstated benefit, in that the tire will never loose pressure and run low (as opposed to going completely flat). The problem with THAT is that tires should be pressurized according to vehicle specs (the little sticker on the inside of the drivers-side door) RATHER than what's actually printed on the tire's sidewall. If the two are different, pressurizing tires at what's on the sidewall ends up causing all sorts of messiness. Like what happened to the Ford Explorer several years ago ...