Jump to content
Create New...
  • 🚗 Your People Are Here. Get In.

    The internet is full of car content. This is the community.

    Cheers & Gears has been bringing enthusiasts together since 2001. Join the conversation, show off your garage, and find your people.

  • William Maley
    William Maley

    Ram Finally Confirms Small Cargo Van, To Be Named ProMaster City


    William Maley

    Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

    December 2, 2013

    We've been reporting for the past few years on Ram getting a version of the Fiat Doblo to compete with the likes of the Ford Transit Connect and Nissan NV200. Well today Ram has finally confirmed that a version of Doblo would be introduced into the U.S. sometime next year wearing the ProMaster City name.

    "The Ram ProMaster City further expands the Ram Commercial truck lineup, which includes everything from vans to pickups to Class Four and Five trucks. As Ram Commercial continues to gain share and grow sales in the market, we will be aggressive in our goal of expanding our commercial vehicle offerings," said Reid Bigland, President and CEO - Ram Truck Brand, Chrysler Group LLC.

    Source: Ram

    William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected]or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

    Press Release is on Page 2


    Ram Commercial Confirms New Small Van

    December 2, 2012, Auburn Hills, Mich. - The Ram Commercial Truck division today announced that it will offer an all-new small van for the North American market.

    Joining the larger and highly capable Ram ProMaster as an additional van offering, the 2015 Ram ProMaster City will compete with small commercial and passenger vans.

    "The Ram ProMaster City further expands the Ram Commercial truck lineup, which includes everything from vans to pickups to Class Four and Five trucks," said Reid Bigland, President and CEO - Ram Truck Brand, Chrysler Group LLC. "As Ram Commercial continues to gain share and grow sales in the market, we will be aggressive in our goal of expanding our commercial vehicle offerings."

    "Our successful relationship with Fiat Professional, one of the world's foremost commercial truck manufacturers, gives Ram a competitive advantage with access to proven products and technology that will resonate with our U.S. and Canadian customers," added Bigland.

    Based on the successful Fiat Doblo, a two-time International Van of the Year winner with more than 1.3 million units sold, the Ram ProMaster City will encompass familiar Ram Truck styling cues and offer features and powertrains preferred by North American commercial customers.


    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    What an epic name, the small van market is heating up. I still like the new Transit more I think, but the Promaster City has the best name and almost looks like an Alfa Romeo. I wonder if it will have a diesel option. Or maybe they can do an SRT version with a Pentastar V6!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    There is actual logical reasoning behind the Promaster nose and why it looks the way it does.

    Because its much cheaper than sheet metal? The entire nose of the van is plastic, unpainted, black, cobbled up plastic. Seriously, what's the logic?

    All these white refrigerator boxes, all intently cheaply made/looking.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    There is actual logical reasoning behind the Promaster nose and why it looks the way it does.

    Because its much cheaper than sheet metal? The entire nose of the van is plastic, unpainted, black, cobbled up plastic. Seriously, what's the logic?

    All these white refrigerator boxes, all intently cheaply made/looking.

    You'll just have to wait for my chair arm gripping review! :AH-HA:

    • Agree 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Impatiently waiting,..........

    Both are still very ugly IMHO. I agree with Balthazar that there is some cheapness going on with the all plastic nose. But knowing the idiot Socialist Republic of Euro, they probably will say it is people friendly when they get hit by the crazy drivers. Lately it all seems to boil down to what is people crash friendly.

    I wonder just how friendly it is compared to a nice looking body style.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Why is there this weird fixation on the 'ugliness' of these vans? Van's were never meant to look 'good' or desirable. They're supposed to value function over form. Is this America's passive-aggressive way of being upset that Europe does vans better?

    PINNACLE OF COMMERCIAL AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN RIGHT HERE:

    2013-ford-econoline-wagon-e-350-super-du

    Edited by FAPTurbo
    • Agree 3
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Exactly!

    And the Econoline rides terribly too. The Savana/Safari aren't lookers either, but they at least have a Suburban-esque ride to them. I'll give a hint as to why the ProMaster (the big one) might sell better than you guys here expect. It is unusually nimble for its size.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    The focus for some may be that 'we're told' it doesn't cost any more money to make something aesthetically pleasing. ;)

    Others likely take issue with increasing acreage of black plastics, again which 'we're told' is 'utter cheapness'... ;)

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I don't like the look of the ProMaster, but the City version looks pretty good. I think Ford wins in van styling, the new big Transit and the Transit Connect both look good, and I'd say are the styling leaders for full size and small vans. The Savana/Express I think will look like dinosaurs once these new Euro vans hit, these new vans might be 5-10 mpg better than the old Econolines and Savanas running around.

    Although the Sprinter is the best looking van of course, and it comes with the same 7 speed transmission you get in an S-class!

    Edited by smk4565
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    GM needs to get their small commercial vanlet out fast. The Transit Connect is still the coolest, but the PMCity is right there with it, nearly. The CityExpress is not good looking, NV200 is absolutely woeful, plus it has a garbage CVT.

    I wonder if the Ram tiny will have two lemfs, or will it stick with one.

    I imagine the big black nose on the giant ProMaster is for quick change ease in case of an accident, perhaps it is one big assembly that comes off as a unit.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I bet on the following, the ugly big plastic nose is for Euro spec pedestrian crash standards / ease of repair for auto crashes and probably the only way they can get at the engine for service.

    Remove the Nose, service the engine and put the nose back on again. Vans have never really had an easy service access except in the 70's when you had the huge hump inside come off so they could do an easy tune up.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Support Independent Automotive Journalism

    25 years of honest automotive coverage — because someone has to do it.

    Cheers & Gears has never been filtered by manufacturer relationships or driven by algorithm. Just real people, real opinions, and a genuine love of cars. Subscribers keep the lights on and get an ad-light experience starting at $2.25/month.*

    View subscription options

    *A small number of ads feature member-exclusive coupon deals and will still appear.

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • Does anyone know of or have any experience with cardboard wardrobe boxes made for moving? The ones from Home Depot are not that good.  With the metal hanger rod extended across the top, it does not prevent torsion in the box and the folding side flap, which is meant to give you a look into the box, is flimsy ... and if you even put small things on top of this tall box, it tends to sink in. Someone out there has to have some good solid wardrobe boxes in their available inventory of moving supplies. Help and ideas, please ...
    • Some of these famous buildings are hideous, some are interesting with decent parts to them, and a rare few are really nice. The hideous ones include the newer architecture building at University of Washington, Wurster Hall (also architecture) at UC Berkeley, and perhaps the Salk Institute in San Diego.  These buildings are cold and soul sucking, so they're hard to be in.  They also come from a fairly ugly (on various levels) sixties and seventies granola period. One of these buildings would be a "hybrid" and it's fine.  That would be Campbell Hall (again ... architecture) at the University of Virginia, which is definitely brutalist reinforced concrete at the first taller level or two, with an exposed waffle slab at levels above you.  However, they soften it up by using brick on the upper floors' exterior, as well as lower floor to ceiling heights.  The one brutalist gem would have to be the main library at University of California San Diego.  They definitely did not do this to reduce costs because it's a complicated building.  However, it's probably a nice space to be inside because of the floor to ceiling windows all around. It's just that there was a wave of putting up these buildings on West Coast campuses, surrounded by eucalyptus or fir and hemlock, and it was usually at hippieish campuses and their atmospheres don't gel with me.
    • Happy Mother's Day to the mothers in our lives - family, friends, coworkers  She came to mind, so I looked for a gif on her.  She is originally from Buffalo!  Most people have doubles.  I don't think she does. Happy Sunday.
    • Having looked at all the images online, I have to say that the interior and exterior other than the color which I like is a let down and I would even say for a Luxury brand looks cheap.
    • Due to my tradeshow season, do not have the time till June to do any writeups, but Lexus has released their Luxury version 3 row SUV EV that Toyota released as the Highlander and Subaru also has. Clearly not connected to the ICE Spindale grill or as many of us called the Predator mouth. https://pressroom.lexus.com/all-electric-three-row-luxury-the-all-new-2027-lexus-tz/ The press release says 300 miles of range on Select Grade. Look at the fine print, this is a sea level level road, anything else is 250 to 280 miles of range. FAILURE Lexus / Toyota along with the 400V system.
  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search