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Ram's new ProMaster and ProMaster City are fugly but functional

Work vans might not be sexy but they're important and the new ProMaster siblings should be good ones.

Kyle Hyatt Former news and features editor
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).
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Kyle Hyatt
2 min read
Ram

Hold onto your butts, friends, because there are new Commercial ProMaster and ProMaster City vans and they're practical as hell.

Really, though, the ProMaster and its pint-size pal, the ProMaster City, have always been pretty good at schlepping tools and people and drywall and stuff around but now they've got increased payload capacity, and they can tow more too. Not bad, right?

If you thought that the previous version of the ProMaster might be a good fit for your business, but you couldn't get over how it looked, then we've got news for you. The new model has a different front fascia that is designed to take advantage of the Ram grille. The bad news is that it's still rocking the fugly but functional thing pretty hard, but hey, when your new 19-year-old apprentice drives it into a bollard or rear ends a forklift, it won't be so noticeable, right?

In terms of electronics, the ProMaster and ProMaster City have a pretty robust telematics suite which is powered by Verizon and which should help fleet managers keep track of a variety of metrics that will let them save money on fuel, improve route efficiency and promote safe driving.

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It's big and square and rugged and reasonably priced; what more can you ask from a work van?

 Ram

Part of the 2019 update includes the addition of three new variants of ProMaster. These include a 2500-series model with a 136-inch wheelbase and a low roof, a heavier duty 3500-series with the same roof and wheelbase and finally a 3500-series with a 136-inch wheelbase and a tall roof.

The big-boy ProMaster still packs the well-liked Pentastar V6 and a six-speed automatic transmission while the smaller City model has a smaller engine producing 178 hp bolted to a nine-speed automatic. Pricing for the ProMaster City 1500 starts at $25,740 including destination, and the bigger ProMaster 1500 starts at a not-inconsequential $31,840, again including destination.