My Nephew, who has worked for the local Ford Dealer, since he was 16, and is now a middle manager, reckons that these daft new pump kits have been a major earner for garages like his, as almost all the tyres that are brought in for repair can't be...repaired that is.
As well as that, he is of the opinion that space-saver tyres are perfectly OK for the purpose for which they were designed....in other words, to be used at slower speeds than you would normally drive, and in order to get you to a place where you can get the tyre repaired.
His garage, as well as every other garage in the business have also benefited from the revenue earned by having to go to the mobile assistance of people who can't use the pump kits, or for damage to tyres for which the kits are not suitable, like tyre wall damage.
He also says that the principle reason that kits are used is that they considerably cheaper than providing new cars with proper spare wheels. When a company like Ford are manufacturing millions of new cars each year, the modest savings per car soon mount up.