Ram is reviving the midsize work van — a class of vehicle that's become a rare breed in the United States over the last few years.

The new ProMaster City is based off of a small work vehicle that's been kicking around Europe under other Stellantis NV brand names such as Peugeot and Fiat the last several years. Combined, it's sold more than 1.5 million units overseas.

Now that European commercial hauler has received several safety and appearance tweaks for our domestic market — including freshly-designed Ram badging — and will hit U.S. roads in early 2027 with a starting price under $40,000.

Executives say the Turkey-built van will fill a big hole in the market that was left after Ram stopped selling a smaller iteration of the ProMaster City in 2022, and after several other automakers such as Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Group AG also abandoned the segment. Ram and other automakers have continued to sell larger work vans.

"They all left, including us," said Dave Sowers, director of operations at Ram Professional, at a recent unveiling of the van in Detroit. "So that left a lot of these customers out in the cold with unmet needs. But the customers didn't go away. They didn't go away because the work didn't go away. What that meant is these customers had to hold on to their vans longer, or they had to make compromises.

Since 2009, almost 1 million similar small and midsize vans were sold in the U.S. market, Sowers said, and in a peak year, there were about 100,000 sold across five or so different models.

Ram's prior version of the ProMaster City, also based on a European model, had become outdated with its safety features and efficiency, noted Matt Huber, senior vice president of Ram product. It was also a bit too small for many use cases in the U.S. market. That's when the brand began exploring importing this larger and modern version from Europe.

Now that all the other small and midsize work vans are discontinued, Ram sees "a $4 billion revenue opportunity that hangs out there," Sowers said. The smaller model might appeal to a range of business owners who see the brand's larger ProMaster van as overkill — think landscapers, plumbers, small home delivery businesses, or hotel shuttles. Ram executives also hope it appeals to van life types who want to camp in it.

The key: It can fit a four-by-eight-foot sheet of plywood while still being able to squeeze into tight spaces and parking garages with a height of under 7 feet. The van has 167 cubic-feet of cargo volume, a floor that stretches back more than 9 feet, and both hauling and towing capacities of 2,000 pounds. For comparison, Ram's regular ProMaster crams in 524 cubic feet of space and can carry 4,750 pounds in its beefiest and largest trims.

The front-wheel-drive ProMaster City is powered by a 166-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that is made at a plant in Hungary, connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Executives acknowledged elevated tariffs would be something the company would need to navigate with this model but they didn't talk details.

It can be purchased as either a cargo van, or for hauling passengers, with windows and seating for five or eight. The van includes a sliding door on the side and options for either a barndoor-style opening in the back or a liftgate.

Ram is formally unveiling the van at a big work truck convention in Indianapolis this week, where aftermarket upfitters can check it out and start planning various equipment and components to be added by different types of businesses. Huber said the carmaker will also set up its own customization facility near the Port of Baltimore, where the vans will be equipped for different customers after arriving from Turkey.

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