Trade barriers ain't going to make much of a difference. Them Chinese automakers are an existential threat to any American, Japanese, European, or South Korean automaker that fails to innovate with products and processes

JD Power disagrees.

The difference with China is the auto industry was subsidized heavily by the gov't (and I don't mean consumer rebates - I mean R&D and manufacturing) and virtually forced by the gov't to overproduce for years and years.  They are a threat because they have been subsidized so long and they are desperate to sell vehicles.  Which means they are willing to lose money if necessary just to move inventory (and probably backstopped by the gov't) and undercutting domestic prices.     What would happen of Toyota starting selling vehicles here at $5k  below cost?

There's no gettin' around a stock Mustang's propensity for understeer. That's why it's underwhelming for autocross and track days.   A few weeks ago I did a track day event at Summit Point Raceway (Jefferson and Shenandoah circuits) in a Mustang RTR Spec 3 provided by a Ford dealership & a tuner in Northern Virginia. This is not the factory $6520 package for Mustang Ecoboost mentioned in this thread but a hardcore performance package for Mustang GT. RTR Spec 3 might be the best Mustang ever for autocross and track days: exceptionally well balanced, willing to rotate on throttle lift off, and incredibly communicative.   You can get most of the RTR Tactical Performance Suspension components a la carte if you don't want to shell out the $35,000+ for the full Spec 3 package    

One of my car friend said this with his mom's Audi-they are nice cars, but not good cars. 

I don't know if I'd say the two are necessarily mutually exclusive.   If they're propped up back home to wildly overproduce and ship globally, they can simultaneously be a threat, while in reality being a diseased paper tiger if govt funding were ever reduced/removed.

I'd agree with your assessment - they offer a good amount of tech for what you're paying, especially in the Mulally years.  I also like Ford designs more than most other brands on the road, and am obviously familiar with how their vehicles operate.  Recent price increases while de-contenting obviously leaves a sour taste, but so far I've been able to largely avoid being hit with de-contenting by getting early builds of new models.  Knock on wood, I've also done fairly decently quality wise with the 3 Ford's I've bought new, though obviously others have had different degrees of issues, so I can understand why others may not be happy if they had bigger/more frequent problems.   Other brands are certainly not immune from issues.  My mom has had various issues with her X7 over the years, but also loves it.  I think leasing and handing back is the way to go with those types of vehicles, as repair bills (not to mention maintenance beyond the factory included period) get expensive quick.....I watched a video recently of a Panamera......to change the air filter (can't recall if it was engine or cabin), they had to completely remove the entire front bumper, both headlights and other components just to swap out the filter........vs. my Bronco where you pull open the glove box and another door, or unscrew 4 bolts in the engine bay and you're done.

It is-China, along with the rest of the western world is getting older. The last time I checked, something like 50% of the Chinese population is over 50. As you get older, you don't spend as much because you don't need as much for example.    That causes other issues with taxes, military recruitment, etc as time goes on. 

I find the claim about $1bn in material and warranty cost reduction hard to believe. From what I can find online, their warranty expenses haven’t gone down yet, and I can’t see why material costs would be going down right now unless they mean aluminum since there isn’t a fire anymore.   tbh a big reason I like Ford is that their tech works well at this point. Ford Pass is a free app and is so nice. If the Fathom looks dumb I’ll still probably upgrade to a newer Ford Escape next year to upgrade tech, and as I see it a lot of Ford’s appeal for decades has been them being a bit more innovative with what they put into ordinary cars. Aluminum body F-150, Ecoboost, early on hybrids, etc all the way back to the Taurus. Its not hard to imagine many feeling differently on this, but I feel this is what Ford has been for at least my lifetime.

He is picking a stupid hill to die on to try and make some sort of point.