Confirmed: The Ram Promaster City Will Return

It looks like the Ram ProMaster City will be returning to North America. While Stellantis initially made a bit of a mess of its U.S. properties upon taking ownership of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the company has since committed itself to a back-to-basics approach.

At present, the only van in Ram’s lineup is the full-size ProMaster (available as an EV or with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6). The compact ProMaster City was discontinued in 2022 due to claims that the segment was on the decline. However, Stellantis has since confirmed it’s working on a successor and we already know that Ram wants to reprioritize commercial vehicles.

Initially reported by Mopar Insiders, which heralded the return of the ProMaster City specifically, subsequent coverage has suggested that Ram may run with a different name.

From Mopar Insiders:

For a vehicle that quietly exited the market, the Ram ProMaster City has remained surprisingly relevant. Years after it was discontinued in North America, the compact commercial van continues to surface in executive conversations, investor presentations, and, most importantly, direct confirmation from Ram leadership.

At this point, the situation is clear. The Ram ProMaster City is coming back. The remaining unknowns aren’t if it will return, but when it will arrive and how it will be configured for today’s market.

The above proclamation is based on the 2024 investor’s meeting where former Ram CEO Chris Feuell stressed how important commercial vehicles would be for the brand’s future. This included a new small van.

“Pro One enables Ram Professional to leverage the global selection of vehicle platforms and, through this relationship, will introduce a small van to North America with an EV option,” she said.

Minus the EV angle, that was basically the recipe for the original ProMaster City. Based upon the European Fiat Doblò, the U.S. model was an affordable little van equipped with the 2.4-liter Tigershark I4 engine and a 9-speed automatic transmission. While it wasn’t always a hit with reviewers, it was refreshingly basic and lacked most modern annoyances (technology features).

Designed to be utilitarian, Ram would let you customize the model six ways from Sunday and there were no shortage of aftermarket shops willing to do the same. This made it an excellent option for those in need of a commercial vehicle that wasn’t a pickup or full-sized van.

Since taking over as chief executive for the American brands, Tim Kuniskis has confirmed that Ram’s focus has not strayed from commercial vehicles.

“Ram [Professional] this year is going to be one of our pushes because now that we have more production capacity of light-duty trucks and now that we’re going to have more capacity of powertrains, we deprioritized it last year, we’re going to try and get back into that space more,” he told Mopar Insiders during the 2026 Detroit Auto Show.

“And one of the things we’re going to do is ProMaster City. I don’t know if we said it publicly, but yeah, we’re bringing back ProMaster City. I think the only thing we left out of that story was exactly when. But we’re doing it.”

While Kuniskis has effectively confirmed that the model will retain the ProMaster moniker, Ram’s PR reps are a little less willing to confirm the vehicle’s name. However, they did say that a small van is presently in development and that’s good enough for any van connoisseur.

Vans are reserved for drivers of truly discerning taste. Despite sustained claims that the allegedly versatile nature of crossovers are what made them so popular, vans are the true jack of all trades.

Crossovers were pushed onto us by the industry because it’s easier to get them legally categorized as light trucks by the government, meaning they’re not required to adhere to the same emission standards as other passenger cars. While some can certainly embrace the role of a utility vehicle, others are little more than lifted hatchbacks.

Years before the first crossovers vehicles had even been dreamt up, vans were being used by delivery services, tradesmen, bands, camping enthusiasts, hippies, and swingers. The minivan would supplant the station wagon as the standard family vehicle in the United States while its European counterpart — the Multi-Purpose Vehicle or “MPV” — started gaining traction an ocean away.

While your author is obviously biased, it’s hard to imagine a more broadly useful vehicle than the humble van. Trucks may offer enhanced utility. But the van remains the practical choice when it comes to maximum versatility. Still, having a few weirdos out there with a fondness for the body style isn’t enough to rationalize building them.

Fortunately, Ram has other reasons to bring back the smaller ProMaster. All of the model’s original competition has basically disappeared. In the past, the ProMaster’s biggest advantage was comparative simplicity and lower MSRP.

With the Ford Transit Connect, Mercedes-Benz Metris and Nissan NV200 having all left our market within the last few years, the returning Ram will have the entire compact van segment to itself. Past sales volumes, while not staggering, were also relatively stable — indicating that the brand should be able to count on people buying them.

It seems like a smart play from the automaker. Stellantis may have botched the American side of the business initially. But it feels like the company is trying to make things right by bringing back V8 motors and attempting to focus on the kind of vehicles that did consistent business in the past.

The real question is whether or not the model will do better than that upon its return. Seeing even 15,000 annual deliveries would have been considered a good year for the ProMaster City while it was still in production. But it won’t have to share space with other models, assuming Ram can get it out before anyone else jumps into the segment.

We likewise don’t know how Stellantis plans on packaging it. Odds are good that it’ll continue to be based upon the Fiat Doblò/Citroën Berlingo. But the European vans come with a handful of extremely small powertrains, the biggest being the 1.6-liter gasoline or diesel options. While designed for efficiency, every available motor would make the van noticeably slower than the old American ProMaster City with the 2.4-liter Tigershark.

Ram is going to need to carefully consider if that’ll work for would-be buyers. While a vehicle like this certainly doesn’t need to be quick, it also has to work on American roads while fully loaded. The same goes for the electrified variants currently sold in Europe, should Ram still want an EV.

[Images: Stellantis]

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