Americans are spoiled for choice when it comes to vans that work hard or carry lots of people. The Chevrolet Express will seemingly be in production forever, and the Ford Transit puts a Euro twist on your plumbing company. But there’s been a bit of a void in the work van space if you don’t need a huge box on wheels. Ram sees itself filling that space with the 2027 Ram ProMaster City. Pricing has just been announced and, even including destination charge, it’s going to be the cheapest work van in America.
There was once a time in America when the tradespeople and families who wanted something that wasn’t a pickup truck or minivan had quite a few work-oriented vans of all sizes to choose from. Just in the 2010s alone, you could buy a Ford Transit Connect, a Chevrolet City Express, a Nissan NV200, a Ram ProMaster City, and a Mercedes-Benz Metris. All of these vans offered the ability to do hard work in a smaller, more maneuverable space than their larger brethren.
By 2022, most of these vans were gone. That year, Ram Commercial hung up its hat on the original Ram ProMaster City. Nearly all of that van’s competitors had already ceased production in the months and years prior, leaving the ProMaster City and the Mercedes-Benz Metris as the sole vans holding down the compact segment in America. At the time, Ram said that the smaller commercial van segment had bled sales in the four or five years leading up to the van’s discontinuation, and the company found it difficult to commit to a van with such low volumes.
Clearly, other automakers felt the same way, as by 2023 the curtain fell on the whole segment. If you wanted a work van but didn’t want to get a whole Chevrolet Express, Ram ProMaster, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, or Ford Transit, you were working out of something like a Chrysler Pacifica, Toyota Sienna, or Kia Carnival.
The various segments and markets of the automotive world experience ebbs and flows much like everything else, and, apparently, Ram now sees growing demand for a smaller van once again.
A Van Of Many Names
Like the last ProMaster City, the new one is based on a European van with a new badge and American upfitting. But this time, the new van isn’t a Fiat Doblò, nor is it very small, either. Instead, Ram has chosen a mid-size Citroën as the base of the 2027 Ram ProMaster. Here’s what my former colleague, Brian, wrote when the van was announced earlier this year:
Stellantis, the parent company for brands like Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler, is a very big company. In addition to its American arm, it also controls several big-name manufacturers in Europe, including Citroën, Peugeot, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Vauxhall, and Lancia. That means it had plenty of existing platforms to choose from when deciding to revive the ProMaster City for 2027. The van it chose has actually been around since 2016, and has been sold under no fewer than seven different brands and 13 different names. Here, let me list them all out for you:
1. Citroën Dispatch.
2. Citroën Holidays.
3. Citroën SpaceTourer.
4. Fiat Scudo.
5. Fiat Ulysse.
6. Iveco eJolly.
7. Opel Vivaro.
8. Opel Zafira Life.
9. Peugeot Expert.
10. Peugeot Expert Traveller.
11. Peugeot Traveller.
12. Toyota Proace.
13. Toyota Proace Verso.
14. Vauxhall Vivaro.
Honestly, I love that this van is so gloriously badge-engineered. I know domestic automakers used to be mocked for lazily slapping new badges on existing products, but I think that’s okay in this case. A work van that’s been sold over the past decade with over 1.5 million copies and over a dozen government names is sort of charming in a silly way. Besides, as the continued existence of the practically stone age Chevrolet Express shows, work van buyers don’t always care about the latest and greatest design or engineering.
Like the rest of its siblings, the 2027 Ram ProMaster City has a face befitting its new alias. It looks like a Ram product and, dare I say, unlike earlier versions of the bigger ProMaster, this one is actually nice to look at.
Smaller, But Not Too Small
As you can tell from the imagery, this is not necessarily a “small” van. The old ProMaster City was 15.6 feet long (187.5 inches), while this one is 17.5 feet long (210.1 inches). It also rides on a longer 129-inch wheelbase compared to the old one’s 122.4 inches, and stands 76.7 inches tall compared to the old model’s 74.0 inches. This places the new ProMaster City into a mid-size category. Yet, despite the upgrades in size, Ram claims the new van has the same tight turning radius as the old ProMaster City.
Technically, this isn’t the smallest work van by length in America. You can still buy the regular Ram ProMaster with a 118-inch wheelbase and a 16.2-foot length (195.4 inches). However, it is measurably smaller than the rest of the segment. The smallest Ford Transit, for example, has a 130-inch wheelbase and a total length of 18.2 feet (219.2 inches). Even the old Express is bigger with its 155-inch wheelbase and 18.6-foot length (224 inches).
Should you opt to get a 2027 Ram ProMaster City rather than working out of a minivan, the platform you’ll get sounds pretty straightforward. It’s a unibody vehicle rocking MacPherson struts up front and a trailing arm suspension in the rear. A compact 1.6-liter inline-four mill doles out 166 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque through the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy numbers have not been released yet, but considering the small engine, I wouldn’t be surprised if the highway number lands around 28 mpg, just like the old ProMaster City.
Ram is quoting some decent enough capacities, too. The new van can tow 2,000 pounds, has a payload of 2,175 pounds, and has a 9-foot, 3-inch cargo area with up to 5 feet, 4 inches in width. Ram also says that the van has a 23.2-inch step-in height. For comparison, a regular ProMaster 1500 has a 21-inch step-in height, up to 4,160 pounds of payload, and can tow up to 6,910 pounds. Obviously, the baby ProMaster City is solidly for light-duty applications.
The ProMaster City will be offered in two trim levels, starting with the Tradesman and moving up to the SLT.
The list of standard features in the base Tradesman is pretty rich. Every ProMaster City comes with a 10-inch digital gauge cluster, a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and even heated front seats. Other noted goodies include an onboard navigation system, a forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, and a digital rearview mirror. Move up to the SLT and, in addition to body-color bumpers and alloy wheels, you get gadgets like parking sensors and a wireless charging pad. The van can be ordered either as a cargo model or as a passenger van with seating for five or eight.
The Cheapest Commercial Van In America
The big deal, of course, is the price of it all. Ram has revealed pricing today and says that you can get this van for $39,995, with destination fee included. That makes it the definitive cheapest commercial van in America, and in some cases, it’s not even close. A regular ProMaster, for example, starts at $46,370 before all fees. Ford Transit? $48,400 before fees. Even the dinosaur Chevy Express, with its rock-bottom $41,800 before fees, cannot match the ProMaster City.
Anyway, paying $41,495 will step you up to the SLT, and the base price of the Passenger Wagon is $42,695 for a Tradesman or $44,195 for an SLT. Production of the new 2027 Ram ProMaster City is expected to kick off in Bursa, Turkey, later this year. Deliveries are supposed to start early next year.
This is a good thing. Ram might have a hard time selling these things if they were just as expensive as a larger van. But that may also make you wonder just who, exactly, does Ram think will buy these vans?
In our previous coverage, we asked Ram about who buys Stellantis vans right now, and we were told that there are a lot of people riding in Pacificas using them for contracting, food delivery, and Amazon deliveries. Many Pacifica owners use them like a larger van, and lay down sheets of plywood and drywall in their vans. In theory, this van should be better for their work than a minivan. It has work van doors, a flat load floor, and a large loading area while still having an easy-driving layout and good maneuverability.
I also suspect that some of those who have lamented the loss of the small work van might also find themselves in a Ram dealer. Maybe we’ll even see some camper vans out of it, too. At least, I hope that’s the case, given how ludicrously expensive some camper vans are right now. Either way, I’m weirdly excited to see a new kind of van arrive in America. I can’t wait to see what people do with it.
Top graphic image: Ram
Once upon a time GM and Dodge sold a LOT of commercial Astro/Safari and Caravan to businesses who didn’t need/want a big van. The Transit Connect was everywhere a decade ago.
I can only comment on the transhit connect. We may have expected more from a vehicle that I assume was designed for florists or bread companies. The fulcrum (as car reviewers like to say) Not meant meant for medium duty much less heany-ish use.
I was looking at used ones for a tiny campervan conversion back in the before-pandemic days.
From what I saw, it seemed they kept the powertrain the same as the Focus it was built on, which worked great until you actually put any real payload into them, at which point the transmissions were good for less than 100k. I seem to remember there being a lot of low cost repair options for the transmissions, but generally the recommendation was to buy one that already had the trans repaired or get one directly from a florist that bought it new so you could be sure it was never loaded down during hard stop and go city driving.
Two observations. The angled fuel filler flap right on the rear wheel arch is a choice I don’t know that I’ve seen before.
Showing it with a hellcat crate engine on the inside is very on brand for RAM
What?! What kind of work/cargo van can only tow 2000 lb? A minivan can tow 3500, and my parent’s Toyota Highlander can do 5000. With that payload, it could potentially handle the 15% tongue weight of a 13,000 lb trailer.
That’s another reason people like the Express. It can tow like a truck – it’s rated for 9000lb. That’s almost double what other full-sized vans do.
My van is an Nissan NV3500, with similar truck-like towing. It’s my people hauler and farm truck all in one. Transit, Sprinter, and Promaster can’t haul a 5000 lb tractor on a 2000 lb trailer. This new van could barely handle the trailer alone.
A lot of people want and use vans who never tow anything.
I’m shocked they’re selling a passenger version. Will be interesting to see if that eats into the Pacifica’s sales at all.
The passenger version should appeal to certain businesses: hotels, rental car agencies, aged care facilities, tour operators etc.
My guess is that’ll be 95% of sales for the passenger version. Nobody is cross shopping this with a passenger focused van like the Pacifica (nor should they).
I would cross show this vs a pacifica as this may haul more dogs and dog stuff.
This sounds just plain dumb. What purpose is this serving?
I don’t get the upsizing, the tidy size was a big part of the appeal.
It’s funny how different parts of the world have different ideas about size. I saw a FS Fiat version of a Promaster in Spain a while back. It was wedged in a medieval road/alley with the driver stuck inside. Obviously took a wrong turn. The driver couldn’t open the doors and the cargo area was caged so couldn’t get out the back. There was a sizable crowd trying to help him get him out, but backing up without the mirrors he lost and presumably a crappy backup camera was quite wild to watch. Eventually, he handed his key out through a crack in the window and someone literally ran around the block to the back and opened the doors so he could see out and then ran all the way around to hand him back his keys. It takes a village…
You know what would be good?
If instead of having that engine mated to a 8 speed automatic, they instead bring over the version mated to the same hybrid powertrain that is in the new Jeep Cherokee. And give it the plug-in hybrid option that is available on the new Compass in some markets.
And after they do that, they can bring over the electric version with the 75kWh battery as well
For the $40K base price they are asking, I think a regular hybrid powertrain should be standard equipment.
Quick story – 27 years a ago a company worked for wanted to upgrade it’s on-site maintenance trucks – mostly a small fleet of Bricknose F-250 and F-350 flatbeds and service bodys. The specs on the new trucks were mind boggling. We don’t need 4 speed O/D automatics in a facility with a 15 MPH speed limit. We don’t need a SOHC V8. All we need is a 300 I6 hooked up to a C6 and a short final drive. But you can’t buy that.
Not sure a hybrid powertrain is as big a selling point for Ram-owning tradesmen as it is for enthusiast blog readers.
They’ll do everything to hide the European roots of this thing.
But I think just about anyone will appreciate lower fuel costs and a transmission that isn’t constantly hunting between gears.
I just drove one of these for two weeks in Sweden (Opel Zafira Life); 2.2L, 180hp diesel engine and a very slick-shifting automatic. Seated nine and luggage with zero frills. It felt a bit bulky while negotiating very tight parking garages in old town Malmö, but it was eminently maneuverable. I hated the screens but that’s true for all cars nowadays.
The 2L HDi (DW10) will outlive us all. Truly the most wonderful engine Peugeot has delivered “recently”
This looks nice. Price is crazy but it’s where we are I guess.
I love owning these small euro vans during the warranty period. They make good commuters and great extended road trippers.
I miss my transit connects but not the swords of Damocles that were the 6f35 and 8f35 transmissions. Or for that matter the 1.6turbo.
Ford charged me $1000 each time the egr clogged on my 2.0l 2020 between 60 and 77,000 miles. They tried to charge me $9400 for a transmission at 77,000 miles. Thanks cdf drum, sticking thermostat circuit, and dry solenoid teflon tape.
Hopefully these Rams are more reliable. But the transit connect had a larger naturally aspirated engine less frontal area and a tow rating of less than 2,000lbs. I would imagine these rams are firmly in the buyer beware category.
The answer I really need though is will a standard 4×8 sheet of plywood fit behind the seats on this one.
“Price is crazy but it’s where we are I guess.”
Yeah for that amount of money, a hybrid powertrain should be standard.
And they do have a hybrid powertrain they could use… the one currently used in the new Jeep Cherokee.
Plenty of room for that and more.
Thanks. My reading comprehension isn’t what it used to be before the short form tik tok era.
I think that goes for most of us these days.
Rented a Uhaul van a couple years ago and had a laugh at how shockingly, unapologetically cheap the interior was. And yeah doesn’t seem to have been updated since like 2008. The crummy little backup camera in the rearview mirror was a nice touch lol and the driving experience felt basically identical to the ’96 Express van my dad has a junk and project hauler for a while, which is to say totally fine for what it was.
I was in a brand new U-Haul Transit the other week. They put a giant screen in the center taking over all functions…and kept the crappy rearview camera.
Wow that seems like a massive fail. I just realized I forgot to put in my original comment the uhaul I had was a chevy van chassis which for good or bad (probably good?) didn’t even have a screen, if it wasn’t so cheap it actually would’ve been kind of delightful (still sort of was)
Damn I can finally snag a Citroen???
The eternal dream….
I’m very sure you could order badges and front clip as well to complete the look
comparing this to a Current Transit versus the old Transit Connect is a misstep. the cost of event he smallest Transit being so close to this things base price is why Stellantis will lose here. Against the GM it is even more disparaging, for a pittance you get a full on body on frame Truck, if you go 2500 and get the gas 6.6 it is pretty much the only LT motor without the craptastic DFM and so far no machining issues like a 6.2. you can do a whole lot more work in that work van, just saying. of course with the metris gone and the Grumman mail trucks being weirdly scarce, I could see the little feller get some love by light duty gig workers doing sunday deliveries of amazon junk….maybe.
I’m not so pessimistic about this. If this truly gets 28 mpg, it would consume half as much fuel as the Express van. Transit vans are a bit more fuel efficient, but the mileage will still be in the teens. Given that many vans rack up huge miles, the difference in operating cost could be huge. On the fuel economy and cost front, a Sienna might be closer competition.
Generally work vans either are held in fleet until the warranty is up then they get sold on the secondary market for the smaller work groups to live with. Just my experience though. Huge Miles is relative, but usually once they get to the fleet auctions a second time, they are all just around 100K miles. After that though, it all depends on the vehicle. The Big Promaster is known for weak motors, and failing transmissions, so a lot of fleet companies don’t want the hassle. hopefully this new one being middle sized versus the old City, and on a different platform , hits a sweet spot and the drivetrain is both accepting of missed maintenance intervals and work truck drivers.
Its interesting to see new entrees into the van category, but there is a reason why trade folks pick the Chevy Express. They don’t care about styling or even most creature comforts. Power, is not a huge deal and space is space – they’ll fill it regardless of how big it was.
They mostly care that there are about a million white passenger doors in their local junk yard when their top plumber Frank clipped that corner too close. They know that their local mechanic has been working on these vehicles for decades and can find parts everywhere. They care about the aftermarket support to fit it out for basically any configuration they can think of. They aren’t looking for something stylish and trendy, they want something tried and true.
Will they pay the childish tariffs, or will they do a CKD kit? Ford got busted and had to pay it back, and likely Chrysler did too. MB did the CKD kit for their cargo vans (the passenger Metris was shipped straight from Germany in its complete form).
Good to see they’re finally bringing the passenger version with full seats and windows. The last PMC wasn’t available with full windows in all three rows because they were insecure and jealous that it would steal sales from the Pacifica.
It would be nice if they brought over the shorter wheelbase as well, but maybe it will come in 2028.
Nice van. Will be even better when the hellcat variant is unleashed.
I’m more hoping for a TRX version…
I’m hoping for a gas-electric hybrid.
That mid-engine one with the V8 in the third picture from bottom looks like a hoot!
Lots of trades have been yelling they need a small van for $30k. It’s causing prices of every to go up because they are spending double what they used to on vehicles. It looks stellantis took that to mean “under $40k”. Maybe with all the discounts going on at cdjr it will be around $30k. Will be interesting to see if anyone changes the badging on them.
Anything the cargo mini vans and transit connects used to do I could see this doing. But at that price and if they aren’t driving over 170 miles everyday. I can see it going to other platforms that also don’t have to deal with fluctuating gas prices or cdjr dealers.
This isn’t exactly small, its quite a bit bigger than the original LWB Grand Caravan/Grand Voyager, and is about the same size that full-size vans used to be, in fact its longer bumper to bumper than 2/3 of the lineup of the old Ram Van (only the ultra long 3500 was bigger)
It’s close to the short wheelbase express. Alot of the fleets that have the short wheelbase express used to be have the short wheelbase ram van. I could see that being their logic. They are thinking now the fleet customers have gone bigger they might not want to go smaller. They haven’t exactly captured that market with the pro master either. Also under cut others by around $10k. It’s also in between the two metris wheelbase. And has USPS ‘s name all over it.
A good portion of the smaller van people just don’t want a full size van for looks of it. Plus it’s only 7″ longer then the current Sienna thet seems to be the benchmark for mini vans for the last decade and half.
Ram has had a problem with thinking too big for years. They were told by multiple consultants to bring in the 700 didn’t listen and said they knew the American market better. Then got caught with the pants down. This seems similar. But alot of fleets and trades can get something serviceable for $30k they won’t care too much.
That right around / slightly under 190″ length is what a lot of the older guys really want. Because they had astros and the short ram vans. Now are forced to have express maybe a sprinter or transit but don’t want anything to do with them.
I do also wonder if the guys that have always had an express would like the smaller vans. They really have been the defacto van for 20 years.
Since Chevy still makes the Express they should bring back the Astro as the body on frame it was.
Buy a good hybrid setup from Toyota and BAM you got a proper sized van.
You can now put a roof rack on it for larger ladders, tow a respectable amount and still get decent mpg. I might win the lottery too.
I know several 50ish guys in trades that would pay $30k for one tomorrow. I think ford might try something with EUV. Friendstar or Freestar something. Fastro has a ring to it.
Check out the Citroen Holidays… I wonder how much it would cost to get that interior shipped over here. I could probably do without the pop up roof, but the rest of the inside looks pretty cool.
(It would also be fun to replace the front clip with one from a Toyota Hiace including emblems and the rear with something like a Citroen, Peugeot, Fiat, etc…)
What’s the headroom ?
Max
That can only be true if we turn it into a converitble.
Let me check 20 minutes into the future.
They are braging it’s 76″ tall so it fits places. Max interior height is 54″
https://www.birchwoodchrysler.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2027-PROMASTER-CITY.pdf
You consider this a small van, but this is actually the longest version of the van over here in EU (L3). L2 is 4,9 mtr (~195 inch) and L1 is 4,6 mtr (~181 inch). L1 also has a smaller wheelbase
$40K is a crazy high price for that van but it does have a 25% or more tariff to deal with.
My first thought on the price was “I wonder what it would cost without tariffs?”
I love well thought out utility vehicles and I love this.
Close but no cigar for me 🙁
Well then how about a cigarette instead?
I would definitely order a Citroen Spacetourer badging kit if I got one.
get the full Toyota ProAce kit and watch Toyota fanboys implode.
If you put a VW badge on that grey one you coulda fooled me. Definitely an upgrade compared to the previous gen. It’s no wonder people didn’t buy many of those goofy things when they were sitting on the lot next to a 1500.
They won’t buy this new one either at $40K
I just yelled to my boss that we should look at these at the end of the year when we plan to replace some trades vans. He immediately accused me of trying to sabotage the company. I guess he is still salty about the absolute dogshit pair of Promasters we had a like 6 years ago. I’ve got to imagine it’s a similar story at a lot of place as I’ve yet to find anyone who speaks highly of the Promaster or Stellantis’ ability to service them.
I’m surprised Toyota would risk sullying their reputation by slapping their badge on something built by Stellantis
At least they did a commendable job of making it look like a Toyota!
Yeah, it is kind of sad that they’d put their name on something European rather than just selling the Hiace in Europe.
And of course, the Subaru BRZ and BMW Z4 rebadged suck too 🙁
At least the Aygo/C1 has real Toyota input
I mean, historically PSA turbodiesels have always some of the most robust in the business and given that’s primarily what powered the Sevel Nord vans when Toyota joined, I’d say it wasn’t a bad bet to begin with.