Laws state you can't have the wheels/tires poke out completely outside the fenders. Further, the tires can't poke past any part of the body over a certain amount. They never had a problem like this before because no one cared much about wheel fitment. Now having the wheels flush to the fender is all the rage (see, "hellaflush", "stance movement") and OEM's want to get in on it. Problem is, the kind of fitment car enthusiasts get is not legal to produce from the factory. Therefore they put these tabs on to "cover" the wheels when viewing at a certain angle, so the tires
technically aren't protruding from the fenders.
You can see the tires stick out farther than the bottom of the bumper. The bumper tapers in but the tire is vertical. The tire "tucks" under the fender at the top and "pokes" out at the bottom.
The OEM's can't legally produce something that takes this characteristic too far. Putting those tabs on visually "covers" the tire so they can push it out farther with a lower offset wheel.
Here you can see it in real life:
