“When the new ProMaster City arrives at dealerships early next year, it will be the only mid-size commercial van on sale in the U.S.,” said Tim Kuniskis, head of North American Brands, SRT Performance Division, Retail Marketing.
The last ProMaster City commercial van ceased production in 2022. Since then, all the competitors also exited the segment and left a glut of pent-up demand for a small, city-friendly work van to haul folks’ tools and equipment around.
“Right now, in the market, there are no small, compact vans,” said Matt Huber, Senior Vice President, Ram Product. He continued, “So, we do find people buying smaller trucks and trying to upfit them like a van, which is truly just a compromise. Trucks can’t do what vans do.”
Seeing opportunity, Ram returned the ProMaster City nameplate, this time on a larger, midsize van platform. Yet it retains legitimate “city” credentials. It’s lower than 7 feet tall (77 inches), allowing it to fit in most city parking structures. And the 2027 ProMaster City retains the same 42-foot turning circle as the old, smaller version.
It also maintains a simple, no-thrills base. That keeps the cost down and allows upfitters to customize just as customers need or want, including camping enthusiasts. Let’s check it out.
Bigger Box
About two feet longer than the last ProMaster City, this new one starts life as a Stellantis global platform that measures 210 inches long, 75.5 inches wide, just under 77 inches tall, with a 129-inch wheelbase. Or about the length of the old-school, full-size Dodge Ram vans that left us in 2003.
Despite full-size dimensions, Ram includes a few minivan traits. First, it’s built on a unibody platform, not body-on-frame. That’s lighter and more space-efficient, like a minivan. Second, we get a big, sliding door on the passenger side. It provides a 36-inch-wide, 48-inch-tall gap when opened to get stuff in.
In back, you have two choices. First, the standard, “barn door” split doors, which open a full 90 degrees on either side. And, at the press of a button, you can release the hinges, and each door will open a full 180 degrees, and load from a dock, just like tractor-trailers.
Or you can go minivan style again and get a liftgate. Regardless of which doors you open, once inside, 167 cubic feet of cargo volume awaits.
Critically, that’s a big enough space to swallow a sheet of plywood, sheet rock, or whatever — something the last ProMaster City couldn’t manage. The floor behind the front seats is 111 inches (9’3″) long, more than 48 inches wide between wheel wells (over 64 inches wide from wall to wall), and 54 inches (4’6″) tall.
Yeah, it’s big. Big enough to hold two standard-size pallets, if you’re so inclined. And — wouldn’t you know it — a 5.7L HEMI V-8 fits on a standard-size pallet.
And it’s not just volume. Ram says the ProMaster City will handle a payload of at least 2,000 pounds. Feel free to — literally — carry a ton of stuff in this thing. Towing, on the other hand, is also 2,000 pounds, or better known as not much. The ProMaster City is more of a carrier than a puller.
One Size Fits All
While Ram offers more space than before, it’s one-size-fits-all. Ram will not offer any wheelbase or height variation. The box is the box. You also get but one powertrain: a turbocharged, 1.6L inline-four-cylinder that channels power through an eight-speed automatic gearbox before heading to the front, and only the front wheels.
That means you get all of 166 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque to haul yourself and stuff around. The eight-speed automatic will offer a healthy amount of torque multiplication to get things moving.
Not offering all-wheel-drive, especially for us northern folk and off-pavement adventurers, puzzles me. But that does keep costs down, I suppose.
On the plus side, it gets a four-wheel-independent suspension to improve the ride. The ProMaster City rides on struts up front and an independent trailing arm setup in back. And I presume that the ride and handling folks will lean more on the ride side of the tuning spectrum, but that’s to be determined.
People or Things
Ram will build two trims and two types of ProMaster City. You choose between the base Tradesman or the uplevel SLT trims. From there, decide whether you want to haul cargo or people, as Ram will make a passenger version of the ProMaster City to carry five or as many as eight, courtesy of either one or two benches with space for three installed.
However, Huber quickly pointed out, “Even the three row has three feet behind the third row.” In other words, still plenty of room for stuff.
Standard equipment includes a bit of ubiquitous, modern tech. All ProMaster City vans get a 10-inch digital instrument cluster and another 10-inch center display. That latter connects to your smartphone via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
A third standard screen comes in the form of a digital rearview mirror. That one could prove quite helpful for fully loaded cargo vans.
If you get the SLT trim, Ram throws in a wireless smartphone charger. And you can also option a ProMaster City with a heated steering wheel, partition walls, and the aforementioned various seating arrangements. Similarly, you can equip it with glass windows, metal panels, or security panels. The last option is glass with metal mesh to protect it.
Outside, Tradesman and SLT distinguish themselves with different wheels. The former rocks 17-inch steel wheels. The latter swaps in alloys of the same size. Furthermore, the SLT gets body-colored bumpers and fog lights up front, while the Tradesman sticks with simple black plastic.
One last piece of standard equipment, this will be the very first Ram with new, more modern RAM lettering affixed on the front grille.
Custom Fit
“We will have an upfit center that every single one of our vans will go to, in Baltimore. And it will get customized however our customers need it to be. But we also know that there will be some lower-volume customization going on. We expect some of our upfit partners (will) put up shops around our Baltimore Transformation Center, so they can do more customized solutions for our customers as well,” Huber said.
Some of those smaller upfitters around this Baltimore Transformation Center will likely want to turn the ProMaster City into a slick, efficient, useful, custom camper. After all, while this van doesn’t offer standing room inside, it certainly could carry kitchen, bathroom, bedding, and shower supplies. Not to mention plenty of fresh water.
Regardless of how it’s upfitted, Ram says the ProMaster City maintains its warranty after the customized setup is finished.
2027 Ram ProMaster City: In Conclusion
Expect the 2027 Ram ProMaster City to start arriving in early 2027. And you can order one as early as the second half of this year. While Ram didn’t reveal pricing, the target is to keep the base price under $40K. Considering the average price of cars these days hovers around $50K. Not to mention the inherent volatility of tariffs, that’s impressive.
For the money, you get a pretty basic machine. But you also get a blank canvas, with 167 cubic feet of potential. One that suits plumbers, electricians, HVAC, and shuttle runners. But also — potentially at least — a killer weekend adventure rig.
