The new small van is based off of the Fiat Doblo – a two-time International Van of the Year winner with more than 1.3 million units sold from Italian automaker and former parent company Fiat SpA. Bigland said the ProMaster City – available in dealerships between December and January – will offer best-in-class fuel economy, horsepower, torque, payload, cargo capacity and the all-important cost-to-own.
CHELSEA, MI- Chrysler is touting its new 2015 Ram ProMaster City as a new, "best-in-class" vehicle with a strong track record.
"This is a proven performer," said Ram Truck CEO and President Reid Bigland during the vehicle's unveiling Thursday at the automaker's Chelsea Proving Grounds in Michigan. "Even though it's new for our market, this is no stranger to cargo applications as well as passenger applications.
The new small van is based off of the Fiat Doblo – a two-time International Van of the Year winner with more than 1.3 million units sold from Italian automaker and former parent company Fiat SpA.
Bigland said the ProMaster City – available in dealerships between December and January – will offer best-in-class fuel economy, horsepower, torque, payload, cargo capacity and the all-important cost-to-own.
Chrysler did not announce pricing or expected fuel economy. The vehicle will be powered by the automaker's 2.4-liter Tigershark I-4, a four-cylinder engine rated at 178 horsepower at 6,250 rpm, while its peak torque – 174 lb.-ft. (231 Nm) at 3,900 rpm. It is mated to a segment-exclusive nine-speed automatic transmission.
Reid Bigland, Ram Truck president and CEO, prior to the unveiling of the 2015 Ram ProMaster City at Chrysler's Chelsea Proving Grounds on June 26, 2014. "This is big capability is a small package," said Mike Cairns, director of Ram Truck engineering. "It's really fun to drive."
The ProMaster City will be offered in two-seat Tradesman cargo van and five-seat passenger Wagon configurations, with a total of two trim levels and eight configurations.
Bigland said Chrysler expects the passenger wagon versions to be about 35 percent of sales. Of those sales, he expects an even split between retail/individual customers and fleet customers.
"We're very optimistic about the product because of what the Fiat Doblo does," Bigland said. "Our ability to leverage that success in North America is a real asset for us."
The cargo van offers 131.7-cubic feet of storage. Cairns said the passenger version has roughly 6 feet of available storage with the seats down and 4 feet with the seats up.
Global commercial vehicle sales, according to Ford, are expected to grow by 4.8 million during the next several years to 21 million units annually by 2017.
Officials said expected customers for ProMaster City include locksmiths, caterers, package delivery, telecommunications, heating and cooling, painters or florists.
Reid Bigland, Ram Truck president and CEO, during the unveiling of the 2015 Ram ProMaster City at Chrysler's Chelsea Proving Grounds on June 26, 2014. The ProMaster City will be going up against new and redesigned models from a number of automakers, including General Motors Co, Nissan Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co. Its largest competition is expected to be the Ford Transit Connect,
The 2015 Ram ProMaster City is the brand's second shared collaboration with Fiat Professional. The 2014 Ram ProMaster full-size van, which Chrysler unveilied last year, was the first.
Unlike the ProMaster full-size van, which Chrysler unveiled last year, Bigland said no diesel engine is planned for the ProMaster City.
The ProMaster City will be built in Bursa, Turkey at Fiat's joint-venture TOFAS plant and upfitted into a cargo van at the Chrysler Group Transformation Center in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Michael Wayland covers the automotive industry for MLive. Email him at MWayland@mlive.com & follow him on Twitter @MikeWayland or Google+.