Along with boosting its manpower in the Motor City, Vroom has launched its local Detroit hub and what it describes as a more customized driveway experience for 3.4 million people in 740 ZIP codes within a 40-mile radius.

That experience includes a more personalized concierge service in which customer advocates transport cars directly to car buyers’ driveways on Vroom-branded trucks and show them how to use their new vehicles.

The company made that move after two earlier announcements that it was opening new hubs in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Noting that the pandemic has increased consumer desire for remote car buying and selling, Vroom said car purchases by Detroit-area Vroom customers increased by nearly 163% year-over-year from the previous year.

Consumer sales of cars to Vroom increased by 189%.

Vroom said it is emphasizing customer service and recruiting employees with hospitality and client service experience. Led by Vroom’s chief logistics officer, Mary Kay Wegner, and her logistics leadership team, led by new vice president of transportation, John Piatak, and vice president of hub operations, Steve DeVoe, the company recently made its 1000th Last Mile delivery.

Piatak joined Vroom after leading transportation at Carvana, and DeVoe spent the last six years creating supply chain management services at Veritiv.

“With our valued customers in mind, creating a more personalized driveway experience and rolling out more local hubs across the country has been a priority for us at Vroom, so we’re excited to launch this offering in Detroit,” Wegner said in a news release. “The Motor City has a rich automotive history and a growing tech presence, and we’re thrilled to be a part of the next generation of auto innovation here.”

Vroom is also expanding its downtown Detroit office, which has a team of nearly 50 engineers, designers and product managers responsible for improving the platform’s digital experience.

The company said the office’s headcount has nearly tripled since its August 2019 opening.

The team is led by John Caine, Vroom’s chief conversion officer and chief product officer.

Vroom is based in New York and Houston. The company said the team looked forward to establishing a local Detroit presence, as the company sits at the intersection of the city’s historical automotive industry legacy. Detroit native and lifelong Michigan resident Bob Mylod, managing partner of Annox Capital Management who sits on the boards of Booking Holdings, Redfin, Dropbox and Bloomscape, is the long-time chair of Vroom’s board of directors.

“We’re proud to be a part of the local tech and automotive communities here, and we are excited that our Detroit customers will see more of our red and white trucks and experience our more personalized delivery process,” Caine said. “It has been great to grow with the community since 2019 and we’re looking forward to growing our teams here even further.”