Didier Miraton who is the tyre producer at Michelin has said that using wheels or tyres that are smaller than usual could actually help the economy. Michelin unveiled a 10 inch tyre as a proto type when they were at Challenge Bibendum held in Brazil. It has been explained that having the wheel/tyre 4 inches smaller can reduce up to 40 kilos of weight.
Miraton said “If all the small cars currently on the roads in Brazil were to be equipped with smaller wheels, a total of 728,000 metric tons less of man and machine would need to be moved. This would lead to commensurate savings in fuel resources”.
Finally adding “The tyres are still at the experimental stage but if manufacturers show interest they could go into series production within the space of three to four years,”