While the Blue Oval has the all-new Transit Connect and Chevrolet recently unveiled the Nissan NV200-based City Express, now it's Chrysler's turn to dive headfirst into the North American compact cargo van segment. Cue the 2015 Ram ProMaster City, the smaller brother of the Fiat Ducato-based full-size cargo hauler.
But unlike the big ProMaster which can be had in lots of wheelbase, roof height and engine configurations, the 2015 Ram ProMaster City is a far simpler workhorse to customize. Boasting best-in-class cargo and payload, the newest addition in the Ram lineup appears to be a pretty interesting package.
It doesn't carry over the powerplants available of the car on which is based - the Fiat Doblo. In the United States, the ProMaster City is available with a single unit - the ever popular 2.4-liter Tigershark four-cylinder mill that's also available with the 2015 Chrysler 200, Jeep Cherokee and Dodge Dart. On the Ram, this engine is rated at a segment-leading 178 horsepower and a 174 lbs of torque. Although slightly redundant, the compact van can do the 0 to 60 mph run in 9.8 seconds.
A more interesting figure is the way the ProMaster City pulls at city speeds. The smallest Ram Commercial family member can accelerate from 0 to 30 mph in just 3.7 seconds thanks to a specially calibrated ZF-developed nine-speed automatic box that sends power to the front wheels. The ProMaster City will be available in two main configurations: Tradesman Cargo or Wagon. Even though it has only two seats, the Tradesman version can swallow 131.7 cubic feet of cargo. Further more, it eases hauling duties thanks to 60/40-split doors that can be opened to 180 degrees just by pushing a release.
These handy doors come as standard together with two sliding doors. In the case of the passenger-friendly Wagon version of the 2015 Ram ProMaster City, cargo space is slightly compromised by a 60/40-split bench which can be folded flat into the floor. While Ram stated in the press release you can check out below that it features "best-in-class combined fuel economy", the actual mpg figure has been blatantly left unspecified. Built at the Tofas Turk Otomobil plant in Turkey, the 2015 Ram ProMaster City will hit U.S. shores later this year.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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