Tire Bead problems of the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta

Extreme cracking of tire sidewall, adjacent to the bead area of hankook optimo h725a. Size: 205/55r16 91h. Dot 1 grp dy h 0211 this tire was original equipment on a new 2011 vw Jetta sportwagon tdi. It had never been taken off the rim and was used during non-winter months only, with approximately 35,000 miles of use. The defect is on the inner sidewall and was discovered when the winter wheels/tires were being put on the car. It is fortunate that this extreme cracking did not cause a high speed catastrophic incident.