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Airless tire makers hope for breakout moment with autonomous driving

AVs could mean greater demand for puncture-resistant tires.

Makers of airless tyres such as Japan's Bridgestone Corp. hope driverless cars will herald a breakthrough for their niche technology, which is more than a decade old but underperforms standard tyres in every way except resistance to puncture. Autonomous driving - and the eventual introduction of self-driving taxis - could mean greater demand for puncture-resistant tyres as greater usage of vehicles exposes them to more flat tyres. "In the past, a car would be driven about 20% of the time and s