The Ram Promaster City is Back and Bigger for 2027

Just over a decade ago, Ram joined Ford in offering a compact commercial van for the North American market. At the time, Ram was part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles before its parent company merged with PSA to form what we now know as Stellantis. Like its big brother the full-size Promaster, the Ram Promaster City was a rebadged version of a European Fiat van, in this case the Doblo. Ram discontinued the Promaster City after the 2022 model year but the name is back for model year 2027, although it has now moved up to a midsize van platform.

Instead of the compact Doblo, the new Promaster City is now based on the Scudo (also sold as the Peugeot Expert and Citroen Dispatch) and will likely find more appeal in the North American market. Like most vans, the base platform is actually offered in several lengths and even a cut-away version to install a box or shuttle bus platform on the back. In Europe, the vans are offered with gas, diesel and even battery electric variants. 

Here in North America, we’ll get one size and only one powertrain option but we will get a choice of either passenger van or cargo variants. We’ll get a variant that is 210-inches (17.5 feet) long and 76.7-inches tall which means that it will fit in a standard American garage. That will be very useful for trades people that have to take the vehicle home because they might be on call 24-hours a day. 

There’s a sliding door on the passenger side and a choice of swing out rear doors that open to over 180 degrees for loading at a cargo dock or a flip up tailgate. Inside, the cargo van has a 111-inch load floor, over feet between the wheel wells and 54-inches of cargo height. That means it can hold the proverbial plywood panels with the doors closed or two standard size pallets back to back or a total of 167 cubic feet of space. The Promaster city is targeted to have at least 2.000-lbs of towing capacity and over 2,000-lbs of payload. 

Customers that opt for the passenger wagon version get side and rear windows and a choice of seating for five or eight passengers which should make this a great choice for larger families or those that need to haul the whole team around. 

Under the hood, the Promaster City will use a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mounted transversely with an Aisin eight-speed automatic transmission. For this van configuration, the engine puts out 166-hp and 221 lb-ft of torque and this will be the only global variant of this van with this configuration. According to Ram, they claim it’s well matched to what they expect will be a predominantly urban driving environment. The front drive layout means that the cargo floor can be both low and flat for easy loading and unloading. 

The cabin features a 10-inch instrument cluster display and 10-inch infotainment screen with wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay support. Ram plans to start taking orders in fall 2026 with first deliveries expected in the first quarter of 2027. There will be two trim levels, Tradesman and SLT with a starting price under $40,000 which should make it the most affordable commercial van in the U.S. Like the last Promaster City, this one will be built in Turkey and shipped over as a passenger van to avoid the dreaded chicken tax and then upfitted (or downfitted as the case may be) into cargo vans to meet those orders. 

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