And these vans are a perfect example of what happens when you leave a market. Even when you come back with a supposedly superior product, it is hard to make much of a dent against established entities.

 

sarcasm< If the sales people were worth a darn, they could have steered customers towards Ram Power Wagons. After all a 4WD truck has four wheels and is a truck, just like a van.> sarcasm

 

I see a decent amount of ProMaster's in the Pacific Northwest, but the majority are the Ford Transit vans and the Nissan NV Cargo Van's. Next to zero Chevy City Express and next to zero Nissan NV200. A MAJORITY are older Econoline's and Chevy Express vans. They outnumber any of the newer products by far.

The USPS here has one Ram ProMaster they use in the urban areas, haven't seen more then one. Otherwise they use the old Grumman trucklets.

FedEx has many Mercedes Sprinter vans and Freightliner Sprinters as well as many new Nissan NV Cargo vans, which are replacing the Sprinters.

Have seen a decent amount new Mercedes Metris vans, which surprised me. Didn't think anyone would buy them, but they are being bought.

In short, I see a good amount of ProMaster vans, but next to zero ProMaster City vans.

 

Just today was presented the new Fiat Ducato minibus in two variants 14 seater and 17 seater (13 + driver and 16 + driver).
Here comes the new Fiat Professional Ducato Minibus (at http://www.fiatpress.com/press/article/here-comes-the-new-fiat-professional-ducato-minibus )
There is already the 9 persons shuttle.

Engine diesel 2.3 liter 130 CV or 150 CV and 3.0 natural gas 140 CV.
The 2.3 F1A with the 2.0 liter for smaller vans are the only diesel engines used nowdays in the Ducato.
3.0 F1C diesel engine is now only used in IVECO Daily.
F1C is the diesel engine used by Ram Promaster, even if was not in the market since almost a year (no certification, but now should have again).

 

Just today was presented the new Fiat Ducato minibus in two variants 14 seater and 17 seater (13 + driver and 16 + driver).
Here comes the new Fiat Professional Ducato Minibus (at http://www.fiatpress.com/press/article/here-comes-the-new-fiat-professional-ducato-minibus )
There is already the 9 persons shuttle.

Engine diesel 2.3 liter 130 CV or 150 CV and 3.0 natural gas 140 CV.
The 2.3 F1A with the 2.0 liter for smaller vans are the only diesel engines used nowdays in the Ducato.
3.0 F1C diesel engine is now only used in IVECO Daily.
F1C is the diesel engine used by Ram Promaster, even if was not in the market since almost a year (no certification, but now should have again).

Those headlights look SO much better than the Promaster headlights.

 

I wish we got the Iveco Daily instead of the Fiat Ducato.

 

QUESTION: When a van is upgraded by a third party to a passenger version do they have to meet strict federal safty standards.? Yes I know the seats have seat belts but that is common and cheap common sence.

 

There has to be some leeway for such things.
Otherwise each and everyone of them would have to crash test and certify each and every model and version.
They would go broke.

 

That's a good question. Right now I really miss Bob S watching these forums.

 

Can chrysler make a "passenger ready" with a nod and a wink. A promaster with floor carpet, side panels and headliner and of course windows. But with no seats. A basic interior like the Vans "wagons" we had in the 80's and 90's.
So instead 10 grand or more at a upconverter its only 1500-2000 more.

 

They may as well install the seats from the factory, as the import laws favor passenger van imports. Don’t know if it’s still true but many cargo vans are imported with seats due to the “chicken tax”.

 

A Ram Promaster City arrives in Baltimora as a passengers vehicle, with rear seats and windows, than is transformed in a van.
Looking a Fiat Doblò Maxi cargo and a Ram Promaster City one can notice the differences from the outside.

In the Doblò cargo van in the lateral door there is no to cut for the window.

The other big difference is that in the Doblò cargo the sliding door on driver's side is optional.

 

Mercedes currently imports semi knocked downs kits (SKD) for the Sprinter and Metris. Each van is partially assembled and placed in a box to be fully assembled in South Carolina. They have been doing this since Dodge sold a version of the Sprinter. Next year Sprinters will be fully built here as Daimler upgrades the plant. They are hiring workers now, BTW. I don't know where the engines and other drivetrain parts will come from.

Iveco and SAIC, meanwhile, skipped a few generations of Daily vans this year and they're currently building the latest generation Daily vans in China. If I ran the circus, I would be importing the Daily as knock downs from China and adding North American drivetrain parts and interiors.

 

Body parts for Ram Promaster are already sent from italian plant to mexican plant for Ram Promaster. Probably since they reduce stamping costs.

Daily shares some parts with Fiat Ducato / Ram Promaster / PSA brothers.

As for Iveco Daily now includes new minibuses, motorhome bases and ecp-friendly vehicles were put under "blue power" umbrella (they have a blue color in front).

Tourys, Line, Start (base model) + "Blue Power" (for italian market there is an additional schoolbus).

For all (except the electric) is standard or optional the ZF 8HP LCV transmission.

Blue Power minibuses for now is CNG and should arrive the electric one soon.

 

Blue Power.

Three powertrains: F1C 3.0 natural gas (CNG), F1A 2.3 diesel Euro 6 ready RDE 2020 and electric with Fiamm SoNick batteries (molten salts ZEBRA battery).

 

Full lot, but no one is buying them... The ProMaster sells well, but not the ProMaster City.

 

Someone is buying them, sales of the PMC were up 21% last month. Year to date is down 3%, but there's no reason to panic just yet.

I don't know if TOFAS is capacity restrained with building Fiat vans, but there are a few Fiat Professional models I think would sell well here. First the Doblo (Promaster City) chassis-cab. Chassis-cab truck are exempt from the chicken tax. Let the aftermarket sort out the rest of the truck.

Since FCA seems reluctant to bring over any more cars to add to their lineup, another van I would like to see would be the short wheelbase, Doblo (ProMaster City) Combi. That one should be kept basic with black bumpers and grill. Style it like a civilian postal van. Combi vans with the rear seat and door windows are also exempt from the tax. As was pointed out in an earlier post, that's how they import the longer PMCs to avoid the tax. In the case of this particular model, leave the rear seat and door windows in place for the aftermarket and the customers to deal with. FCA desperately needs a Bohemian Box to sell to young people. To be successful this van should be something someones mom wouldn't like. (Ex-hippie grandparents won't ruin the coolness factor, so they're exempt from wanting one.)

 

Seems like FCA and the other big 2 don't want to sell cheaper cars. To me a sale is a sale. You can buy a Caravan for less then a promaster city wagon. The wagon should sell in the high teens.
LOL I like the term "Bohemian Box". I liked the Scion XB though it was a bit to small for my needs.