A five-generation dealer group finds growth and staying power by investing beyond the showroom.
For more than a century, Sames Auto Group has been selling cars in Laredo, Texas, but its relationship with the community has grown into something larger than the transaction on a dealership lot. The fifth-generation family business has expanded into a 13-store dealer group across Texas while continuing to invest in schools, scholarships, children's health and local organizations. That combination of growth and community involvement has made Sames more than a familiar name in Laredo , it has made the dealership part of the community's identity.
Sames began selling Ford vehicles in Laredo in 1910 and is now the oldest automobile dealership in Texas. The company operates 13 dealerships representing 11 brands across Laredo, Corpus Christi, McAllen, Bastrop and Harlingen.
The group is also performing at a significant scale. Ford recognized Sames Auto Group as one of its Top 20 Ford Dealer Groups by volume in the nation, based on the performance of its five Ford dealerships across Texas.
That growth presents a challenge familiar to any expanding dealer group: how do you get bigger without losing the culture that helped build the business in the first place? Evelyn Sames, who became CEO and the fifth-generation leader of the family business, says maintaining that culture has been one of the company's biggest challenges.
“Like many businesses, we have navigated recessions, COVID and supply disruptions. But I would say that one of the biggest challenges has been managing growth while maintaining our culture,” Sames told the Laredo Morning Times. “What I have learned is that you must be ready for growth by building the right people and processes ahead of it, or it can set you back.”
For Sames, keeping the family-business identity intact means staying connected and accessible as the company grows. She said employees need to understand the company's core values and operate by them every day. That philosophy is visible in how the company has maintained its presence in Laredo while expanding into other markets.
More Than a Car Giveaway
One of the clearest examples is Drive Sames 4 Education, a perfect-attendance program launched in 2012. Students who maintain perfect attendance earn entries for a chance to win a new vehicle, turning something as basic as getting to school into a dealership-sponsored incentive. The program has continued for more than a decade and expanded into several Texas school districts. Sames says 28 vehicles have been awarded through the program since its launch.
Jerry Resendez, General Manager of Sames Ford in Laredo, has made clear that the vehicle is not supposed to be the real prize.
“The most important thing students get out of this is not the car. The most important thing students get out of this is an education,” Resendez said during the 2024 launch of the program. That message has remained consistent as the program has grown. In 2026, Sames and local school districts continued the annual program, with students competing for new vehicles based on their attendance.
The company has also built longer-term education programs. Sames Scholars provides scholarships and mentoring for college students, while the company supports Driscoll Children's Hospital through its Test Drive for Smiles campaign. According to NADA, Sames Scholars had provided more than $2 million in scholarships and produced 96 graduates as of 2025. The latest Test Drive for Smiles campaign raised $200,000 for the children's hospital.
A Relationship That Goes Both Ways
The community relationship is perhaps most visible through Mission Give Laredo, a partnership between Sames and Bethany House that reached its 20th year in 2025. The annual drive turns a Sames dealership into a drive-through collection point for clothing, food, hygiene products and household necessities. The donations help Bethany House provide basic items to people moving into transitional housing and support its other programs.
Monica Bautista, executive director of Bethany House, said the format was created with Sames and has become convenient for people who want to contribute.
“This concept was made possible thanks to Sames Auto Group who came up with this donation drive,” Bautista told KGNS. “It’s like a drive-through concept, very convenient for everyone that maybe wants to support or doesn’t know how to do it.”
After two decades, Bautista said the event also has something less tangible: a returning community of donors. “We see a lot of familiar faces,” she said. That kind of relationship is difficult to create through a traditional advertising campaign.
Evelyn Sames has described the company's community involvement in similarly personal terms. “Our involvement in the community is organic for us,” she told the Laredo Morning Times. “It's something that's spanned across many generations in my family.”
The Family Business
That generational connection is central to understanding Sames. The company has survived wars, recessions, industry disruptions and the challenges of growing from a single dealership into a multi-market operation. In 2025, the Texas Senate recognized Sames Auto Group for its 115-year history and community service. The company has continued to expand, but Laredo remains the center of its identity.
In 2026, Sames also received a different kind of local recognition. The Laredo Morning Times Readers' Choice Awards named the company Best New Car Dealership, Best Used Car Dealership and Best Auto Dealership Service Department.
When Sames celebrated its 115th anniversary in 2025, more than 10,000 people participated in a company giveaway for a new Ford Bronco Sport. The winner, Laredo resident Kassandra Moreno, was already a longtime Sames customer. She told the Laredo Morning Times that her family had purchased its vehicles from Sames since 2015 and regularly referred friends and family to the dealership.
That is the other side of a community strategy: the relationship isn't entirely created by the dealership. Customers who have been around the brand for years become part of its story.
The Long Game
Sames has continued to grow, but the company says its approach has remained rooted in the same principles that guided the business through previous generations.
“We must continue to evolve, but our foundation remains the same,” Evelyn Sames said. “We will continue to adapt, invest in our people and serve our community with that same commitment.”
That may be the most important part of the Sames story. The company hasn't treated community involvement as a campaign separate from the dealership business. Education, charitable giving, local partnerships and customer events have become part of how the company defines itself.
