Maybe a hollow thud is the result of an improved manufacturing...

Maybe a hollow thud is the result of an improved manufacturing innovation that you are unaware of. And any sentence starting with "I heard that..." needs more information. Heard it where?

"Made in Japan" used to be an indication of poorly-made cheap goods. I'm pretty sure the Chinese model of quality control will result in its cars following a similar arc of improvement to Japan. BYD has had a long-standing joint venture with Mercedes-Benz, its exploitation of European smarts also includes headhunting a former top gun from Audi. Teslas are made in China, Musk has his own agenda for profit-making and cost-cutting, I hope we "as a nation" don't buy anything from that psychopath, but I think we might both have our hopes dashed!

Generally I think it is a good idea to undo our dependancy on Chinese manufacturing, but it's not just cars, the whole project of globalisation over the last few decades has really baked that cake.