Move over Arthur Daly, your days are not just numbered - they're over. On the forecourt of many motor dealers today, the "used car salesman" may well be a bright young woman with a degree in retailing or marketing.

In today's burgeoning motor industry, there's no longer a place for the Arthur Dalys of the past . . . and that's official, courtesy of Alan Nolan, deputy chief executive of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry.

The motor industry is a multi-million pound business, employing some 50,000 people and SIMI has now decided that a proper recruitment, training and career advancement regime must be put in place. That programme is called CAR - the Careers and Recruitment initiative - launched last month by SIMI president Tom Murphy, the Waterford Mercedes dealer.

Last year saw a record level of new car registrations - 174,229 - on top of three previous record years and new vehicle registrations for the first two months of this year show continued strong growth. "If our industry is to maintain its strong economic success, we must place increased emphasis on the development and training of our people who are our most important resource," Murphy argues.

"The motor industry is conscious that we must compete with household names in the drive, not just to win new recruits, but to win the best, which is what we want. We believe that the motor industry has more positions to offer, better rewards and more potential for progress than a career in any other industry. CAR will enable people to get information on all aspects of career opportunities within the industry, from courses available to mapping out career paths."

Careers in the industry range from sales and marketing to accounting and management, technical areas like electronic and mechanical, car testing and body repair to after-sales areas like maintenance and parts stock control.

There are around 8,000 mechanics, 4,000 people on sales and body repair specialists number some 2,000.

"Once you're employed, there is an extensive range of training courses available from SIMI, and motor distributors would provide a lot of training on specific products," Ursula Sherlock, the newly appointed careers officer explains. "We're recruiting in all areas, promoting all the careers in the industry, developing links with schools and colleges in order to provide suitable courses. We're putting career paths in place for those interested in progressing."

Based on the "Study and Training Needs" survey undertaken by FAS and developed with the State agency's help, the industry's own training, under training officer Margaret O'Shea, covers management, sales and business, finance and administration, workshop and aftersales.

Sales and business deals with essential selling skills, closing a sale, advanced selling skills, vehicle appraisal, used car management, developing sales to the corporate customer and customer care in action.

Finance and administration covers VAT and VRT, debt control and improving cash flow, telephone skills, handling customer complaints, managing your time for technical and administrative staff and gathering information on the Internet.

Workshop and after-sales shows how to gain and retain business, selling in the parts department, car valeting, pretest training, parts department management and theory and practical training for vehicle recovery operators. Work

These modules are of course, topping up for many people in the industry, who will already have marketing, business and technical qualifications. (See fact file for some of the courses).

Salaries in the industry - like any large industry vary widely and - lucky things - many employees have company cars. A recently qualified motor mechanic/ technician or body repair specialist would earn £15,000 with bonuses and benefits, rising to £25,000 with bonuses and benefits. A sales executive at entry level would get around £10,000, rising to over £50,000 with benefits.

"The motor trade is out there among the very best industries. There is a great buzz and excitement in our industry which tends to be reflected in wage rates and career development. And we haven't the negative problems regarding staff shortages that other industries have. Because we see ourselves as at the cutting edge, with a business and technical side to it, we want to attract the best people in. We believe we are able to compete for the best of employees with any company in any industry," Alan Nolan says.