If you’re the type of person who felt the “city” van segment didn’t stick around nearly long enough, today is your day to celebrate. Ram is reintroducing the ProMaster City after a five-year hiatus. I’m sure it’ll be a day of great rejoicing for delivery companies, tradespeople and small shuttle services who really didn’t need a van as big as the Chevy Express, Ford Transit and Ram ProMaster. No, the 2027 ProMaster City isn’t quite as small as the van that came before it, but it’s far French-er than it once was, and it’s sure to pack plenty of capability in a relatively small package.
The new ProMaster City is far more minivan-sized than it was before, since it’s now a segment size up — sharing a platform with other Stellantis mid-size commercial vans like the Citroën Jumpy (great name), Peugeot Expert, Fiat Scudo, Opel Vivaro and others. That means the ProMaster City has switched sides from being Italian to French, as the old van was based on the Fiat Doblo. I’m not sure what that’ll mean for quality, but as a person with a French grandmother, I do not know that it’ll be a lot better at taking care of business.
Keen observers will notice that this is the first production Ram product to wear the company’s new logo. We first saw it on the electric Ram 1500 REV, but that truck has since been canceled, so this rebadged Citroën gets the big honor.
Matters of size
At 210.1 inches long, it’s nearly a full two feet longer than the ProMaster City that Ram stopped selling after the 2022 model year. Its wheelbase is also up 6.6 inches to 129 inches overall. For reference, the shortest full-size ProMaster is 213.2 inches long. Still, the new ProMaster City is certainly not huge. Ram touts that the 2027 ProMaster City is the only Class 2 commercial van that’s shorter than 80 inches — meaning it can fit into a lot more garages than other, high-roof vans. Despite the low-ish roofline, Ram says the van still has a 54-inch cargo height. On top of that, its turning radius is basically the same as the van that came before it — just 42 feet. Not too shabby.
Ram
Still, there’s one big benefit to making the ProMaster City bigger for 2027: lots more room inside — 167 cubic feet of cargo space, to be exact. There’s over 48 inches between the wheel wells, as well as a 111-inch (over 9-foot) load floor, meaning there’s space for 4×8 sheets of building materials or two standard pallets. I’m not really a blue-collar guy, but that sounds pretty good to me. All of that space can be accessed through two different rear-door options: a regular liftgate or barn-door style rear doors that can swing out up to 180 degrees. That’ll definitely make loading and unloading easier, as will the 23-inch step-in height. Of course, there’s also a sliding door on the passenger side of the van that offers 36 inches of horizontal and 48 inches of vertical loading.
For the driver
The 2027 ProMaster City will be powered by a mighty turbocharged 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine that will make a heart-stopping 166 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque. All 2027 Promaster City vans get an eight-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive, so they’ll only be able to tow about 2,000 pounds and have an identical 2,000 payload capacity. Ram says buyers will be able to hook up an optional Class 3 trailer hitch with a 2-inch receiver.
Ram
On the inside, the driver gets some standard niceties you may not have expected from a work van like this. Features such as a 10-inch digital gauge cluster and a 10-inch infotainment screen with navigation are standard, as are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Hell, front passengers even get heated seats, and there’s a digital rearview mirror to help see out in case the rear of the van is loaded to the gills. There’s also forward collision warning, automatic headlights with LED daytime running lights, hill-start assist and rear parking sensors.
Keep in mind, all of that is standard on the base-level Tradesman model. Step up to the SLT, and the van comes equipped with luxury features like a wireless charging pad and front parking sensors. There are other niceties that can be added, like a heated steering wheel.
Have it your way
There are other exterior differences between the Tradesman and SLT, as well. The base-level van gets unpainted front and rear bumpers, while the SLT’s are body-colored. It also comes with 17-inch steelies as standard, but in the SLT, they’re swapped out for some nicer-looking alloys.
As with any van, there are a hell of a lot of combinations and configurations to choose from when it comes to the 2027 ProMaster City. Both the Tradesman and SLT are available as either cargo or passenger vans (called the Passenger Wagon), and that van can seat between five or eight folks. If the driver needs extra room, they can remove the second and third rows in a pinch. The cargo can be had with full side panels (called security panels), full glass or a mix of the two, if you’re feeling wild.
Ram
All in all, there are 11 different combinations you can choose from, according to Ram — though some are a bit granular:
- Tradesman/SLT Cargo with security panels
- Tradesman/SLT Cargo with side security panels and rear windows
- Tradesman/SLT Cargo with fixed glass, grated passenger-side door window, security panels and rear windows
- Tradesman/SLT Cargo with fixed glass, grated side windows, rear-quarter security panels and rear window
- Tradesman/SLT Cargo with fixed glass grated side windows, fixed glass rear-quarter windows and rear window
- Tradesman/SLT Passenger with fixed glass side windows and fixed glass rear-quarter windows with rear window
Ram expects the 2027 ProMaster City’s order books to open up sometime in the second half of this year, and production is slated to spin up at Stellantis’ factory in Turkey — alongside its other van siblings — during the fourth quarter. Pricing hasn’t officially been announced, but Ram says it’ll start somewhere below $40,000, making it the cheapest new commercial van money can buy. However, tariffs might have a thing or two to say about that.
