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US Postal Service going Ram ProMaster

Selling cars, vans, and trucks one at a time is business good enough to keep most automakers solvent, but fleet sales are where it's really at. Take this latest order placed by the United States Postal Service from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, for example. The order calls for a massive fleet of 9,113 units of the 2016 Ram ProMaster 2500 cargo van. That number may only be a drop in the bucket compared to the 190,000 vehicles the Postal Service operates across the country, but it's still a pretty large order to place all at once. "While each and every one of our fleet customers is important to us, none command our attention like USPS," said FCA's fleet operations director Tim Kuniskis. "I can't think of another more mission-critical service than literally delivering the goods of our nation on a daily basis, and we are honored that USPS chose the Ram ProMaster to help them meet their challenging duty." Naturally, each of the 9,113 Ram vans will be specially equipped for the purpose of collecting and delivering the mail and packages. They'll also be fitted with 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engines driving 280 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque through six-speed automatic transmissions to the front wheels. It's the latter feature which the post office may find the most compelling, helping the vans get traction regardless of the weather. You know, given the whole "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night" thing that the service seeks to uphold. Related Video: FCA US LLC TO SUPPLY 9,113 NEW 2016 RAM PROMASTER VANS TO U.S. POSTAL SERVICE - Ram Commercial to supply 9,113 new 2016 Ram ProMaster 2500 cargo vans to U.S. Postal Service - Ram ProMaster 2500 is a highly customizable van designed to exceed the demands of commercial customers - Customized outfitting for national mail and package delivery service - Segment exclusive front-wheel-drive system enhances all-weather operation September 29, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC announced today that it will supply 9,113 new 2016 Ram ProMaster 2500 cargo vans to the United States Postal Service (USPS). The 2016 Ram ProMaster 2500 cargo van selected by USPS features the award-winning, gasoline-fueled 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine rated at 280-horsepower output with peak torque of 260 lb.-ft. The engine is paired with a proven, smooth-shifting, six-speed automatic transmission, upgraded to accommodate the ProMaster's exceptional cargo-hauling capability.

Ram to go on a Rampage with new small pickup?

When people look back at today's automotive industry, what do you think they'll remember us for? The emergence of hybrids? Ever more expensive and exotic supercars? The dawn of the self-driving car? All likely scenarios, but so is the blurring of lines between one bodystyle and another, giving rise to hardtop convertible coupes and crossovers of every shape and size. But one bodystyle the North American auto industry has stayed largely away from in the past couple of decades is a car nose and chassis with a pickup bed.
It's a bodystyle immortalized by the Chevrolet El Camino, but with few exceptions, we haven't seen too many of these automotive platypuses in recent years on our turf. Subaru tried with the Baja and the low-volume Honda Ridgeline soldiers along largely unchanged, but the genre's biggest adherents are still Down Under, where ute versions of the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon live. With a few other examples scattered to the four corners of the earth, that's really about it. But if these spy shots are anything to go by, it looks like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles could be working to bring it back.
Spied undergoing testing in Michigan, what we appear to be looking at is a heavily disguised Fiat Strada being prepared - like the Fiat Ducato-based Ram ProMaster and the smaller Doblo-based ProMaster City - for Stateside duty as a Ram product. The Strada, for those unfamiliar, is a product of Fiat Automóveis in Brazil and is based on the Palio economy car. The nameplate has been around South America since 1996 and was originally designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (long before Volkswagen monopolized his talents), and takes a more rugged approach in the form of the Strada Adventure.

2015 Ram ProMaster City Wagon [w/video]

At the tail end of 2014, I brought you a First Drive feature on the new Ram ProMaster City cargo van, a remarkably solid entry into the exploding light-commercial segment. While I was down in Austin, TX playing with those box vans, I also had time to sample Ram's slightly more civilized version, the ProMaster City Wagon. From the driver's seat forward, the Wagon and Tradesman (Ram's name for the cargo version) are practically the same, but the former trim is a lot different in the back section. The rear gets a folding, three-passenger-wide bench seat in the middle, and a carpeted cargo area behind that. This isn't exactly a new formula for the market; Ford has been selling a passenger-friendly five-seat version of its Transit Connect for a few years now. But the baby Ram is another competitor for small business owners in need of shuttles and such, or individuals who place a premium on interior space over creature comforts. Drive Notes Just as with the cargo version, the 178 horsepower and 174 pound-feet of torque from the 2.4-liter four-cylinder makes the City Wagon feel ably fast in urban traffic. Our short driving loop (along with the dozens of extra miles I logged around Austin), didn't offer much in the way of high-speed cruising, but I did dice with other city drivers confidently. The engine pulls adroitly if you really trample the throttle, though it certainly won't tempt you to race that punk kid at the red light. Handling is nippy relative to the size of this small van, with a tight turning circle and quick turn-in around town. The added weight in the back offered by the seats and trim – not quite 200 pounds – also helps to dampen the ride and improve smoothness over the road. The Short Cut video at the bottom of the page was shot with a cargo version of the City, but it should give you the general idea about the nimbleness herein. The extra seats, carpeting and stuff found inside the wagon also do a successful job of masking the strained sound of the engine and exhaust when you do rip through those nine gears. The ProMaster City Wagon is a significant number of decibels quieter than the Tradesman always. That said, no one will ever mistake this Ram for a Lexus; wind and road noise can be heard at all speeds. Ram has effectively cut the cargo area in half compared to the box van version; though bias seems to have been given to cargo over passengers.