CARY, N.C. -

With the 2013 IARA Annual Summer Roundtable set for next week, the organization's Certification Commitee chair recently talked with Auto Remarketing about an important offering for remarketing professionals now more widely available.

Dave Sutton —  the national director of data partnerships at Carfax and the chair of the Certification Committee for the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance — discussed the expansion of testing opportunities with IARA’s Certified Automotive Remarketer Program.

“It’s like fishing,” Sutton said .

The more bait you throw out there — or, in this case, the more times you offer those in the remarketing business a chance to get certified — the greater the likelihood for success.

That’s been the case for CAR Program. Since launching in 2008, five dozen people have graduated from this program that tests industry professionals on 20 training modules covering a myriad of aspects of the remarketing business.

In fact, when Sutton talked with Auto Remarketing in late July, the 60th CAR graduate had just completed certification the previous day.

This year alone, Sutton said, there may be 40 people completing CAR certification.

“One of the keys to this growth is to expand testing opportunities,” Sutton said.

Part of that expansion has involved brining certification testing to industry events and conferences  — including the National Remarketing Conference.

IARA will offer on-site testing at NRC, which is scheduled for Nov. 13-15 as the flagship event of the Used Car Week conference series taking place Nov. 11-15 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

And of course, IARA is providing testing at its own roundtable event this month, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week (testing is also available that Thursday, as well, per the event website).

Typically, when CAR certification is conducted at an industry event or conference like the NRC, the testing is held at a time where it would not detract from the main action of the conference  — for instance, CAR testing could take place in the morning or at the tail-end/beginning of the event.

IARA works with the organization hosting the conference — like the organization team at NRC or the National Auto Auction Association and its upcoming conference — to provide the testing opportunities for the attendees.

To learn more about when, specifically, CAR certification will be offered at NRC, stay tuned to nrc.autormearketing.com, Used Car Week informational emails and Auto Remarketing e-newsletters in the coming weeks.

According to the IARA website, “The mission of CAR is to enhance and promote the profession of Vehicle Remarketing by providing the premier credential in the industry.”

It covers 20 courses in the following five units:  remarketing channels, pre-sale activities, actual sale activities, post-sale activities, and legal/ethics/terminology.

More information can also be found in the print and digital editions of the Aug. 15-31 Auto Remarketing, as well.

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.