Robert Wiley

Robert Wiley. Expert Sales Manager - Auburn Automobile Company. , Robert Wiley started his career at the Auburn Automobile Company in 1920 as a salesman. Prior to that, he served in the Philippines as a lieutenant in the army. Upon his discharge, he obtained a job in the Auburn sales department. When the company was contacted by foreign automobile distributors to furnish them with new Auburns to sell, the export job was handed to Wiley since he had experience traveling abroad. Having a firm belief in the potential of export sales, he pitched in with all of his might. Due to his efforts, export sales grew exponentially, approaching 20 percent of the company's total output. , Robert Wiley travelled extensively throughout his career as he worked hard to establish Auburn as one of America's leading exporters of automobiles. Ultimately by the mid-1930s, the company had 101 dealers and distributors in 93 different countries and three U.S. possessions Wiley's export department, born as a one-man experiment, eventually was staffed by 11 people. At one point, Auburn was the fourth-largest exporter of automobiles in the United States. After the demise of the Auburn Automobile Company, Wiley organized the Wiley Export Company with headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was born in 1889 in Noble County, died in 1969 and was interred in Auburn.