CHARLESTON, SC – Completion of the course requirements to become a Certified Automotive Remarketer (CAR) in the program initiated by the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA) is not an easy task. The first to complete the 20-course regime is Chris Wise, National Remarketing Manager at the Charleston Auto Auction in Charleston, S.C.

Wise passed his final course during proctored testing held at last week’s National Auto Auction Association Equipment and Services Exposition in Washington, D.C. Each test is taken “closed book” and is monitored to assure validation that the CAR candidate has learned the course material.

“To be honest, the courses took more time and work than I had originally thought. However, the information is so valuable to me and to my auction that becoming a Certified Automotive Remarketer will become a necessary standard going forward,” said Wise, who has nine years of experience with Carolina Auto Auction and Charleston Auto Auction. In addition, Wise spent 16 years in retail automotive sales and management prior to joining the auctions.

The course curriculum includes 20 courses in five units covering remarketing channels, pre-sale activities, actual-sale activities, post-sale activities, and legal, ethics, and terminology. The education committee of IARA developed the course materials with help from many remarketing industry leaders. Chris Wise was on hand for the first tests offered in June of 2007 at the Conference on Automotive Remarketing in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Keith Lelux, owner/managing partner of the Charleston Auto Auction and President of the ServNet Auction Group, fully supports Wise’s efforts to gain the CAR certification.

“Chris works hard to meet the expectations of his customers. I am proud that he has stepped up to be the first remarketing professional to have completed the CAR training, both for him as an individual and for the benefit it brings to our auction,” Lelux said.

Officially, the IARA CAR certification will be awarded to the first group of graduates, including Chris Wise, at a ceremony to be held on Feb. 25, 2009, at the Conference on Automotive Remarketing 2009 in Las Vegas.

According to the IARA Web site, www.iaraonline.org, “It is the mission of the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance to assist, educate, and share knowledge with one another and our industry partners, so that each member may be empowered to achieve the fullest efficiency and most continued improvement attainable in the commerce of selling vehicles through the marketplace.”

For more information about the Certified Automotive Remarketer program, visit www.iaraonline.org.