Sonari Glinton

President Obama spent Friday pushing job creation in manufacturing, but he's getting increasing pressure for job results from a key part of his base: African Americans.

The unemployment rate for black men is about double the national average — and economists don't expect that number to fall to the single digits anywhere in the near future.

The U.S. auto market is slowly rebounding. But even as sales increase, they're still not at the peaks hit 10 years ago. In 2000 and 2001, more than 17 million automobiles were sold in America. Last year, just under 12 million were sold.

But many analysts, dealers and executives believe the industry is actually healthier selling far fewer cars.

"That 16 to 17 million sales level that we experienced was not a normal situation," says Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of car site Edmunds.com.

He says a lot of the factors that kept car sales high won't be seen again.

General Motors is about to surpass Toyota in sales. That's after Toyota cut its sales projections following supply chain disruption because of this year's earthquake and tsunami. The last time GM beat Toyota worldwide was in 2008.

Car sales in the U.S. have stalled. Right now, GM sells more cars in China than it does here.

Around the world, American brands have a much higher "cool factor" than they do here at home. And U.S. car companies are looking to exploit that.

The future of the American car companies can be summed up in one acronym, BRIC: Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The big winner in the auto industry in the last few months has been the Korean automaker Hyundai. Last month while car sales stalled, Hyundai had its biggest month ever. Analysts point to Hyundai's success as a sign of the increasingly competitive nature of the U.S. car market. Long gone are the days of the Big Three; now it's more like the Big Thirteen. NPR's Sonari Glinton reports on Hyundai and the fractured American car market.