Right now, one can pick up a new Ram ProMaster City for catering tacos and installing cable down Flower Shop Lane. If that’s not enough, however, Ram might soon have a few more tricks up its sleeve.
According to Edmunds, Ram commercial truck operations chief Joe Benson says consumer demand could increase the current ProMaster City portfolio beyond the two-passenger commercial panel van and five-passenger people carrier. Possibilities include diesel power, shorter wheelbases, seven-passenger models, a taller panel van, and a pickup variant with drop-down sides for easy cargo-box access.
Regarding the overall picture for Flower Shop Lane, Benson believes combined U.S. sales could climb to 100,000 by 2016, compared to the predicted 50,000 units sold in 2014. The increased demand is likely to come from Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari owners looking to replace their aging units with those from not only Ram, but Ford, Chevrolet and Nissan.
Uh… sure. All they have to do is convince tens of thousands of small businesses to trust a Fiat product over a Ford or Nissan.
Joe must be bi-polar and they caught him on an upswing.
This fiat van and the larger promaster are ubiquitous in Europe. They can’t be that bad.
The pickup version sounds interesting.
“ubiquitous in Europe. They can’t be that bad.”
:-D
Ubiquitous and over domineering here too. The Strada pu alone dominates 50% of the commercial vehicle Market. If you add Fiorino, Doblò and Ducato, not to mention the Iveco vans and light trucks, Fiat has close to 70% of the Market. Don’t know about you, but I think a business is a business whether here, New York or Timbukthu, trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of any asset. They make the calculations and due to their presence on the road, it can’t be denied Fiat makes some very good commercial vehicles.
“Dobló”, of course, refers to what the Fiat did when involved in a moderate traffic collision.
(“It folded.”)
Today’s Fiat is not the ’70s Fiat you remember so well. Or do you forget that even Nissan had a quality question when they first arrived in the States?
What do you mean “had” a quality question? Judging by some of the things seen/read/heard, I’d say there’s still a question…
I mean what I said. As a current owner of a Fiat, I’d say the old reputation is out the window. The thing’s a blast to drive and seems surprisingly well built for its price.
You’ve had your Fiat for, what, 30 minutes?
Yep, warranty should be up in about 5 minutes
I completely agree that the old biases from the 70’s are gone. People seem to want to stick to those no matter what is true now.
Pete since 1983 there has been a Fiat or other between dad, mom, brothers, sister and I. Never ever left us on the side of the road. That distinction in my family belongs to Fords,a Renault, a VW, a Peugeot and, gasp, a legitimate Japan built diesel powered Nissan. As much as it is fun to disseminate old ideas and poke fun, i have put hundreds of thousands of miles into Fiat cars, mostly trouble free. I reommend them always. In fact, my bother has a 1997 Palio Weekend used aa dd today, because his American Fusion loves the shop too much, which has seen undeniable abuse, like being abandoned for 6 or 8 months, but keeps on going.
Bah, it definitely aint the 70s no more amigo.
Pete, Lie2me, s!nce 1983 there has been a Fiat or other between dad, mom, brothers, s!ster and I. Never ever left us on the s! de of the road. That d!st!nct!on in my family belongs to Fords, a Renault, a VW, a Peugeot and, gasp, a legitimate, Japan-bu!lt, d!esel-powered Nissan. As much as !t is fun to d!ssem!nate old !deas and poke fun, i have put hundreds of thousands of m!les into Fiat cars, mostly trouble free.
I recommend them always. In fact, my bother has a 1997 Palio Weekend used as a dd today, because h!s American Fusion loves the shop too much. The l!ttle stat!on wagon has seen unden!able abuse, l!ke be!ng abandoned for 6 or 8 months, but keeps on go!ng.
Bah, !t def!n!tely a!nt the 70s no more amigos.
Sorry Vulpine, I wasn’t clear. I’d say there’s still a question about Nissan quality…
I’ve had the Fiat long enough to know the initial reliability is far better than suggested by old prejudices and that the only reason the Fiats aren’t selling better ARE those old prejudices.
Seems like you dont read some of my stuff. Out the window geozinger gone
Marcelo, read my reply to Vulpine.
Thanks for the clarification geozinger.
That’s what I get for posting at work… ;)
their cvt transmissions still have quality issues
It’s a “Ram”, not a Fiat. You might as well call the NV200 a Renault.
If you’ve got current product that is superior to your brand’s reputation, commercial buyers are quicker to pick up on that improvement than consumers. Ram has been on a tear since Fiat.
Possibly Fords and Chevys, and probably Nissans, are still of ultimately “higher quality”, but all brands are now so good that ‘some’ other facets of a product matter as well. When the Spinter first debuted in the US, it seems everyone who bought one loved it, despite nearly all of them having horror stories about poor quality and expensive repairs. The Van fit the way lots of businesses operated better than anything else, so they sucked it up. By introducing models that have proven to work in seemingly-similar-to-US situations abroad, Ram may tap into similarly undeserved markets.
With the Nissan NV200 out now, and a later version with more range planned, if you’re in business to Make Money Nissan is the clear winner.
Future pedio Ice Cream truck
In Brazil it’s the Pedio Ice Cream Adventure.
“Future pedio Ice Cream truck”
Italian Ices of course
Let’s hope. I like Italian Ice.
I’d take a Gelato, por favore.
“a pickup variant with drop-down s1des for easy cargo-box access.”
Asia has only had that for 40+ years. About effing time it made it states1de. Although I doubt it will happen.
It happened once–until the Chicken Tax and Ralph Nader shut them down. With the slight design change of today’s models, I don’t think Nader will be able to claim them “Unsafe at Any Speed” any more.
you can build it in any nafta country or asean country chicken tax free, i suspect thats the reason for the increase in capacity by ford in thailand.i suspect that after the introduction of the f-150 and the new 10 speed transmission, well be getting a four door aluminum ford ranger
If the new Ford Ranger is as big as the Colorado, it’s not going to have much impact on the US market except maybe to prove the modern Road Whales are just too big.
I guess the interesting thing here is that full-sized pickup trucks seem to be involved in the majority of fatal accidents now and that more single-vehicle accidents are fatal in full-sized trucks than any other type of car.
Meanwhile, the Feds are up in arms about racist finance managers charging Customer A 2.5 points rate markup and Customer B 1 point rate markup.
A seven passenger, diesel, ProMaster City will cost how much less than a Pentastar Caravan? Good luck with that here FCA.
Remember that the Caravan is going away, and the next generation is only going to be a Town and Country – unless they make a cheaper lower-end model with that name (but the Town and Country has always been the up-market model). IF they decide to make a full passenger version of this van, it probably won’t be an upscale model.
The “wagon” version of the Transit Connect has to take the place of a minivan that Ford doesn’t have in their lineup … Chrysler already has the minivan and it’s the commercial versions that are going away and being replaced by this model.
The problem still remains. If FCA gets rid of the Caravan, the T&C will have to have a more basic version. I get it costs very little to have a passenger version as well, but they will be lot poison.
Ford has a problem selling the excellent Transit Connect Wagon as a passenger vehicle because of what else they have on the lot. I really like the TCW, and was thinking about buying one. However, when you option one up to acceptable levels, the Escape, Edge, Explorer, and Flex are all within it’s price range. On leases, sometimes all of them are cheaper. Part of the problem is that the options on the TCW are all a la carte. If they had packages like the other vehicles, maybe it would be cheaper. The C-Max is a better, cheaper, American made car that can’t seem to move units on Ford lots either. Why would their be any hope for the TCW?
@bball
Precisely.
How about a Ram Caravan? That could have a commercial/stripped version with some credibility
The Caravan C/V (commercial vehicle) has been around since the beginning…
The Transit Connect’s mission in the Ford lineup is to be a van. The other uses are incidental; Ford would not benefit from pricing it so that it cannibalizes the other vehicles that are intended to haul people.
Marchionne’s strategy is to turn Dodge into a youthful performance brand (think Scion meets Pontiac.) A minivan obviously isn’t suitable for that.
I completely agree. My point is that if RAM is selling a passenger version of this in the same store that sells a Cherokee, Journey, Town & Country, etc, why would someone choose the Promaster City Wagon? I diesel version will cost over $30K. The CDJR sales person will walk you over to a Cherokee instead.
@bball40: The problem with your argument is the total cubic volume the Promaster City Wagon would offer by comparison. While the Cherokee is a quite comfortable SUV, it still lacks in overall capacity, especially for people carrying. Clearly the Promaster City Wagon is an effective replacement for the Dodge Caravan and probably notably more efficient, too.
There’s nothing that prevents FCA from reviving the “Voyager” name plate as an entry level minivan. That was the name they used in Europe, at least that way they’d still have a viable entry for the low cost & Canadian markets. FWIW, this ProMaster City falls in line with the rest of the Ram lineup…
Agreed about the Transit Connect. I’d briefly considered one as a personal vehicle (substitute for minivan or SUV), but at the time they were really new and there wasn’t a lot of room on pricing. I could do much better with an Edge or a Flex…
I’ll try again… There’s no reason why FCA couldn’t revive the old Voyager nameplate, used successfully in Europe after the death of Plymouth. They’d have an entry-level minivan and a price leader for the Canadian market, too.
I’d looked at a Transit Connect when replacing the last car, but I could have done much better if I went with an Edge or a Flex. No advantage, there.
Exactly. The Flex is sooooooooooo much nicer than these mini-minivans too. It’s bigger, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem in America.
“A rose by any other name is still a rose.” Calling one of these a Voyager doesn’t make it the same as the original Voyager even if it fits the same niche.
I dont see a Quest for an NV minivan. There could be govt interference later. These mini cargos lack bulkheads. If there’s a spike in injuries legislation will change their design compactness.
A pickup variant? Hey, that sounds like a good idea…
Maybe that’s why there’s no plans to introduce the Strada here in the US…
With all these import vans, I am concerned about rust. I see a lot of rusty Sprinters in Michigan, and they aren’t that old. No one anywhere uses salt like we do at least in some places in the US. For fleet buyers, if these vans start rusting out in several years, they won’t be happy. For one, appearance of the vehicles is noticed by a lot of customers. They don’t want a rusty POS sitting in front of their business or home. At least I notice how the service vehicle looks. If it is well kept I get a good first impression at least.
Sprinters be fallin apart in Metro Detroit. Ford will curb stomp the Sprinter with the Transit though.
Those Sprinters are a rust disaster here in Ohio too.
In order the make the Sprinter irrelavant in the US, all Ford has to do is not make the Transit a rusty POS. Since the two most common engines have been around a few years, and the transmission isn’t garbage, I’m sure they’ll be alright.
im in cleveland we salt like you, half of the owners of sprinters i know went out and bought the first ford transit they can find, the others are looking at trading in too..between the rust and the $10,000 transmission and the increased maintinance and the $4 diesel they are money pits
I just moved to the Chicago area. Seems that there are lots of cars rusting out prematurely, and I’ve ye to see a correlation with a specific make other than it seems more common in American makes.
On another forum, it was noted that the Sprinter appears to be manufactured from compressed rust. Here (Toronto area) they are by far the rustiest late model vehicles (and yes, they are rustier than Mazda cars).
Between the big Transit and the big ProMaster, Sprinter is going to lose sales now that there are other choices in the market.
Speaking of rust, I think these people who believe the new aluminum Fords won’t rust have a big surprise coming. I saw a full-sized SUV the other day with an aluminum tailgate whose paint was blistered just like conventional rust and white powder showing where the paint had flaked off. You Are Not Immune!
And in sunny South Carolina Sprints belonging to businesses on the beach quickly tan.
Ummm… not a good idea to force the RAM corporate face onto this Fiat product! That is one ugly trucklet.
Seconded, who thinks of this stuff?
More configurations might be cool, but I have a feeling it would have to come with price raises across the board.
I like this van, but then I like most utilitarian vehicles.
From what I’ve heard, it does well on highway MPG, close to 30.
Sure would be cool if there was a manual transmission option with some tall gears as well, but if anything it’d probably be geared low.
I liked the Nissan Urvan I drove when overseas, but it was geared so low it burned fuel like crazy and had a stupidly small gas tank.
Depending on how these hold up, might actually consider one as a Prius replacement in a few years. A 7 passenger if they can somehow use the stow and go seating from the Chrysler/Dodge vans and keep a durable and no-nonsense interior.
Typed a comment and lost it.
This blog software is garbage, how hard would it really be to have a script to create and link to a discussion thread on a stable forum platform for each article and lock users from creating new threads?
But about the van – I think it’s pretty cool, I appreciate utilitarian vehicles and might consider buying one instead of an SUV or minivan in a few years if they prove to be fairly reliable (doubtful about the 9-speed trans)
How about an affordable pop-up camper? There hasn’t been one on the US market in a very long time.
Are you talking about the Westfalia?
SYNCRO Westy?
Oooo, dam. My heart just skipped a beat.
i hate hate hate vw but if they sold me a syncro westy id give them my money
I’ve seen camper conversions on the previous Transit Connect but they are a little too small. Somebody also made pop tops for the Honda Element too. These days I think your best bet for cheap camping is a small SUV with a roof tent or a pickup bed setup. This or the new longer Transit Connect might have camper potential.
Looks like a Honda Element
This might go well for FCA. In the Boston area I am starting to see more FIAT Promasters on the road, I mean Ram Promasters at least compared to the Ford Transit. I maybe have seen two Transits on the road but at least two dozen Promasters. The Sprinters are still the kings of the road here for the Euro vans, but then they have been in the market for a longer time.
Never in my life have I needed, nor will I ever need a vehicle like this. I will also say that style is not an important element on a vehicle like this. Purpose over form. But wow, that front end……
the front end is made of modular plastic so that way you can just pop out cheap plastic panels instead of replacing the whole front end
That front end, yes I agree. But Mike gave you part of the reason why, and the Fiat looks a little better. Anyways, know plenty of people who have had this car and simply put, it’s a hit. So much so, that most I know go on to their second or third before trying other vehicles. At least here in Brazil, easy as it comes when selling used. Different market different folks, but in cargo or passenger versions, this car has it. At least here. I for one, would buy one, easy, though I’m still holding out for the 500L.
This stupid thing keeps deleting my posts.
Anyways – I like it, more sensible vehicles like this would be great.
Can’t argue that it’s ugly, though the full-size promaster van makes this look like a supermodel.a
yay, I can’t edit my post to remove an errant letter.
There was better blog software out there more than 10 years ago, what the hell happened?
Base price for the commersh panel version of the ProMaster City is higher than all three of its competitors. And it’s a Fiat.
Good start.
Somebody spent a fair amount of time designing a front that looks ugly and wimpy for a truck. Did the guy who does the Ram front ends retire?
Uh.. this is a *utility* vehicle, not a fertility or hostility vehicle.
Well as Billy Joe Morgan of Sandersville Georgia once told me: “that thing looks like it couldn’t pull a wet noodle out of a duck’s ass”
Let’s hope so. Whoever thought the “Big Rig” look on a pickup truck was good needs to go retire.
That look took Dodge from an afterthought to a real player in the pickup market.
Completely agree that since ’94 Dodge/Ram have had the best looking pickups on the market. The “big rig” front ends are well-proportioned, masculine looking alternatives to the rolling dumpster look of Ford and GM.
But the teenage kid running flower deliveries or the guy from the plumbing shop doing the small jobs isn’t really going to care what their ride looks like. These small vans don’t need any more aesthetic appeal than a golf cart or an airport tug.
Now it looks like a Kia Soul on steroids.
“and a pickup variant with drop-down sides for easy cargo-box access.”
This should make a few of our commenters froth at the mouth.
There are still Astros and safaris that need to be replaced???
That’s what I’m thinking. The newest one of those is what, 12? And they weren’t popular in the end anyway, especially in cargo format.
The last ‘Stros were built in 2005. I was wondering if the OP meant a little sarcasm there.