Meet our Leadership Team
Stephen Cavender
Stephen Cavender is the President of the Cavender Auto Family, and grew up in the automobile business, having worked in the family-owned Cavender Oldsmobile dealership while in high school. Upon graduating from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree, Stephen re-joined the dealership and worked in every department until joining the management team in 1988 as assistant New Car Sales Manager.
In July 1994, Stephen joined Cavender Toyota, taking over as General Manager of the family-owned Toyota Dealership, and in 2010 became the Dealer Principal. Additionally in more recent years, Stephen Cavender serves as the Dealer Principal of Cavender Auto Country Chevrolet GMC Buick, Cavender Ford, Cavender Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram and Cavender Polaris.
Stephen is a four-term member of the Gulf States Toyota Dealer Council, currently sits on the Executive Committee of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, where he was Chairman in 2011, and has also served as President of the Texas Executives in Automobile Management and the San Antonio Automobile Dealers Association.
Stephen is very dedicated to his community, having served on the Boards of the Greater Chamber of Commerce, Sunshine School for Deaf Children, YMCA, Mission Road Developmental Center, Texas Cavalier Charitable Foundation, the Texas Cavaliers, President of Respite Care of San Antonio, and has served as vestry member of St. Mark’s Church.
Stephen Cavender enjoys family time with his wife Kelly, daughter Kate, and son Brooks. Together, the Cavender family enjoys hunting, fishing, golf and spending time in South Padre Island and the Texas Hill Country.
Rick Cavender
Rick Cavender is President and Dealer Principal of Audi Dominion and Vice President of the Cavender Auto Family. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 Rick began his career at Cavender Oldsmobile working alongside his father and grandfather serving in a variety of positions. From 1992 until 2009, Rick served as Retailer for Saturn of San Antonio, which operated two Saturn retail facilities in San Antonio. In 2016, Rick became the Time Quality Dealer nominee from the State of Texas. This hallmark award is given only to those dealers who represent the best in sales, customer satisfaction and community service.
Rick Cavender is passionate about community service and has taken a very vibrate role in the community. He has served the Boards of Mission Road Developmental Center, the San Antonio Sports Foundation, San Antonio Youth Literacy, the San Antonio Golf Association, the Lone Star Chapter for Cystic Fibrosis, the San Antonio 100 Club, the Bexar County Arts Fund, and Christian Senior Services. Under his leadership in 2016, the United Way of Bexar County raised over $56 million for the many worthy organizations that rely on United Way support to help the over 350,000 people in our community who are served by United Way.
Rick also finds time to lead the Rick Cavender Band. Rick and his band have opened and performed with artists such as Alabama, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Willie Nelson, Larry Gatlin, Glen Campbell, Asleep at the Wheel and Tanya Tucker. In 2008, San Antonio Magazine readers rated Rick and his group as the “Best Band in San Antonio”.
In addition to music, Rick’s other interests include golf, hunting, fishing, and hiking in West Texas. Rick’s family consists of his wife, Suzanne and his daughters Courtney and Claire. Rick is a grandfather as well, often spending time with his grandchildren Ramsey, Calder and Isabella.
Marion H. Palmore
Marion Palmore is a proven leader, leveraging life experiences to become a superior mentor and motivator operating under the strictest principles of integrity and accountability. This highly successful Vice President of Operations has consistently demonstrated the ability to create and inspire diverse teams of automotive professionals to top levels of achievement, across a wide spectrum of auto makers.
Proudly serving in the United State Marine Corps prior to entering the automotive industry, Marion’s initial executive management experience began in 1998 at Family Toyota in San Juan Capistrano, California. Marion rose from the position of Sales manager and eventually was appointed as the dealership’s General Sales Manager until opportunities to move back to his native Texas led him to Houston.
Serving many roles from General Sales Manager to General Manager to Platform Manager in the Gulf States Toyota region, it was Marion’s desire to lead a team of committed Toyota Professionals in the GST region that connected him with the Cavender Auto Family, becoming the General Manager at Cavender Toyota. Under his direction starting in 2010, Marion Palmore grew Cavender Toyota into an industry leader though process improvement, strategic initiatives, and team member accountability.
In 2015, Stephen and Rick Cavender asked Marion to join them as owners in Cavender’s numerous auto dealerships, and in 2020, was promoted to Vice President of Operations over all Cavender Auto Family dealerships due to this excellence in leadership. Accomplishment of team objectives and goals across Cavender’s multiple dealerships has been the hallmark of Marion’s tenure in the automotive industry.
Outside of work, Marion enjoys spending time with his wife Daniela, son and two daughters, and is into fitness and a healthy lifestyle.
Jon Briggs
Jon Briggs is Chief Financial Officer of the Cavender Auto Family and its related entities, and joined the Cavender Auto Family in October of 2016 after seven and a half years in various Accounting and Finance roles within Group 1 Automotive at the Group 1 Corporate Office.
At the Cavender Auto Family, Jon is tasked with leading Cavender Interests, the Cavender Auto Family’s shared service company. The Cavender Interests team provides Accounting, Human Resources, IT, Risk Management, Treasury, Training and Management Services to the Cavender Auto Family stores. Additionally, Jon is responsible for managing many other Cavender family-owned businesses outside of the automobile industry that include oil and gas, real estate, insurance and reinsurance holdings.
Additionally, Jon serves as the lead member of the Cavender Auto Family’s Management Advisory Board (M.A.B.). The M.A.B. is composed of high performing, key dealership leaders who meet quarterly to establish and monitor goals associated with growth and operational excellence. This elite group of managers and directors serves as the Cavender Auto Family’s “farm club” for future Cavender Dealers and General Managers.
Jon is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Texas and graduated from the University of Houston – Clear Lake in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. Jon is active in the community and has been a dedicated volunteer and supporter of the United Way, Kids Meals and Junior Achievement.
Josh Hoffart
Josh Hoffart is a Partner and the Platform Director in West Texas and Oklahoma for the Cavender Auto Family. Josh started his automotive career in 1998 in Houston, TX. He first proved to be a highly successful salesperson, and was later promoted into management as an assistant Used Car manager and eventually worked his way up to General Sales Manager. Josh then took the opportunity to help open a new Toyota open point in Katy, Texas. After a very successful launch of the Katy dealership, Josh spent the next several years as Sales Manager to General Sales Manager before relocating to San Antonio in 2010 to join the Cavender Auto Family.
At the Cavender Auto Family, Josh was first tasked with help running the Cavender Toyota preowned department. Through hard work and a process-driven approach, Josh and the team grew the Used Car department into the #1 nationally ranked preowned store with Toyota. Josh was next asked to bring the same work ethic and process-driven approach to the New Car department at Cavender Toyota. He led the New Car team to a top 20 New Vehicle department, which helped in winning Cavender Toyota’s first Presidents Cabinet Award in 2015.
In February of 2018, Josh left Cavender Toyota for a promotion to General Manager at Audi Dominion. At the time, Audi Dominion was ranked 157 of 304 stores in Audi's KPI. By the end of 2019, Josh and his team had drastically climbed the rankings to number 21 in the nation. Currently Audi Dominion is a top 10 Audi dealership in the nation, all thanks to Josh’s excellence in leadership.
With Josh’s immense success running one of the Cavender Auto Family dealerships, he is yet again climbing the ladder in 2021 to manage all Cavender West Texas dealerships as Platform Director, then again in 2022 expanding into all Cavender Auto Family Oklahoma dealerships.
Ray Sanabia
With three decades of automotive experience, Ray Sanabia has become a premier Platform Director for the San Antonio and Auto Country locations and Partner in the Cavender Auto Family since joining in 2010.
Hailing from West Milford, New Jersey, Ray was raised with a strong work ethic that still benefits him to this day. This work ethic fuels his passion and vision to grow dealership performance by gaining associate buy-in, putting solid processes in place, training with purpose, instilling a passion for market leadership, and inspiring outstanding customer service.
As a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Ray has a deep respect for our military and actively supports veteran causes like the Fischer House and Wounded warrior projects. Working with our talented HR team, Ray and the Cavender Auto Family have actively and successfully recruited talented team members who have recently separated from our Armed forces. Ray is passionate about our veterans and will transfer this enthusiasm for our fighting men and women as he looks to staff and serve.
Away from work, Ray appreciates music, is an avid cyclist and enjoys time with his family. When asked what he loves most about his career, his answer is always “Working with the best team in the business”!
Learn More about the Cavender Auto Family
Cavender Auto Family
Community Involvement
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Community Involvement