Buying a Used Car? Ask the Salesman if he is a Certified Automotive Sales Professional!

So here's an  interesting new certification I came across reading the Career OneStop listings for sales professionals, most of which are topical in nature.  The Certified Automotive Sales Professional designation seeks to create "knowledgeable, ethical and customer-focused trained individuals", according to the description furnished by the National Automotive Dealers Association.  It requires work experience and renewal on three-year cycles, though there's not a lot of information on their website.  Indeed, the lack of detail available online on what this designation is supposed to signal to consumers, or even a page on their website urging individuals to seek out certified professional services, makes me wonder how rigorous this is really intended to be (though the fact that it is listed by Career OneStop suggests some baseline level of credibility).  I have to say that this program could, if well managed, be exactly what the automotive sales field needs, given amply demonstrated ethical shortcomings in many dealers' and dealerships' practices.  But, the fact that the credential seems to be  crafted more by the interests of the dealership owners, not the rank-and-file sales professionals themselves, makes me a little pessimistic about whether this represents true professionalization.  Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see this one develop over time...