Start of production for the 2015 Ram ProMaster City—a Class 1 entry and Ram’s newest addition to its commercial vehicle lineup—is scheduled for fourth quarter of 2014.
The ProMaster City is built in Bursa, Turkey, at Fiat’s joint-venture TOFAS plant. TOFAS is Turkey’s largest auto assembly plant and was awarded a World Class Manufacturing Gold Medal. The optional ProMaster City Cargo van configuration is upfitted at a Chrysler Group Transformation Center in Baltimore, Maryland.
Joining the larger and highly capable Ram ProMaster and popular Ram C/V as a Class 1 van offering, the 2015 Ram ProMaster City will compete with small commercial and passenger vans with best-in-class attributes in the areas that count: payload capacity, cargo area, performance and fuel economy.
"The Ram Commercial lineup includes vans, pickups, and chassis cab trucks. The ProMaster City will help draw commercial customers looking for a one-stop shop for a variety of needs," said Reid Bigland, President and CEO — Ram Truck Brand, Chrysler Group LLC. "Ram Commercial is confident in its abilities to continue to grow sales in the commercial truck and van markets by offering class-leading products and unique programs, such as Business Link dealer support and On The Job incentives that will benefit commercial customers."
Based on the successful Fiat Doblò, a two-time International Van of the Year winner with more than 1.3 million units sold, the Ram ProMaster City will incorporate familiar Ram Truck design elements and offer features, systems and powertrains preferred by North American customers.
Ram – Dodge at the time – began offering vans in the early 1960s. And even before that, dating back to 1918, a series of panel delivery trucks that were precursors to the modern vans. The segment has since evolved from a standard size van with basic capability and tolerable efficiency to a variety of purpose-built cargo haulers with engineering and execution that combines desirable sizes, low total cost of ownership and upfit solutions.
There are roughly 175,000 Class 1 cargo vans in U.S. service today, mostly in fleets. Overall Class 1-4 van volumes are expected to be nearly 400,000 units per year over the next five years with small vans representing approximately 25 percent of the segment. Class 1 industry sales data show an increase in cargo van demand of 86 percent, which can be attributed to commercial customers right-sizing van purchases for their businesses.
Available at all 2,300 Ram Truck dealerships, the all-new 2015 Ram ProMaster City offers best-in-class fuel-efficiency, and includes best-in-class usability, payload and cargo capacity than the competition. The new van also offers customers low total cost of ownership, serviceability and more proven experience than anything in the segment.
The Ram ProMaster City aligns with Ram Commercial, a division of the Ram Truck brand, to meet the unique requirements of commercial customers. Commercial business is essential as it represents about one quarter of the total U.S. sales volume.
Joined by the Ram C/V, the 2015 Ram ProMaster City targets countless businesses in a variety of industries, including delivery, service and repairs, construction, transportation/shipping, large-medium-small businesses and agriculture. The economy has incurred pent-up demand to replace aging commercial vans and vehicles that are no longer offered in the market. This has created an opportunity and Ram Commercial now offers a variety of capable and efficient models ready for work.
ProMaster City competitors are: Ford Transit Connect, Nissan NV 200 and Chevy City Express.