norcal505 Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Interesting. It really seems that Chrysler has wiped its hands clean of Mercedes-Benz. The previous Dodge (Mercedes) Sprinter, which is now being sold in the U.S as a true "Mercedes-Benz" is going to be replaced with the Ram ProMaster. For those unaware, Dodge for some reason divided their Ram trucks and Caravans into a brand of their own, simply called "Ram." Anyhow, this seems to be the second, or third(?) "new Peugeot" available for sale in the United States, under a different marque - of course, because which American in the right mind would buy a Peugeot? Honestly, if you live in Southern California, you could just head south to Tijuana and grab a probably cheap front grille and drive-back with une nouvelle Peugeot. I have actually seen a couple a of new ones; here in San Diego and back up north in Lake Tahoe, near the Sierra Mountains. So here you are, the Ram Powermaster, *cough* Peugeot Boxer, *cough* Citroen Jumper, *cough* Fiat Ducato. -Sina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 interesting! FWIW, the peugeot 4007 has been sold here in the US for years....as the mitsubishi outlander. the same vehicle is sold as the citroën c-crosser. here are some pics to show how similar these crossovers are... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peugeottogo Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Well, Peugeot owns a good percentage of Mitsubishi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal505 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Haha, well I suppose this will be the "easiest badge-engineered Peugeot to aesthetically convert back into a Peugeot" in the US. Really, the bumpers even look to have similar ... cut out the grille, and bam! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I can't seeing it being embraced very well being a FWD, but if the efficiency and load carrying capacity rivals a Sprinter it might be OK. FWD - is just never known to be "heavy duty"... Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal505 Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Hey maybe it could make a good amberlamps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 okay, so it's officially official... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Fiat and Peugeot have broken off their cooperation on the commercial vehicles as of last spring, so unless it's the bodystyle above, it might be not be Peugeot-able! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryancohnracing Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I had no idea the Outlander was a Peugeot/Citroen in Gisha wear. None. Zip. Zilch. However, it does explain why, when looking to replace my Ford Escape we kept going back to the Outlander. Damn thing was hard to resist, drove one twice, looked at them at least 4 times. Splitting Ram made good sense actually. Their trucks have a good reputation and by making it a stand alone brand its more versatile and can more easily be jettisoned if needed.....Can't explain the Caravan side of things. With Fiat owning Chrysler, if it went in all went in the tank they could still keep Ram and Jeep and Caravan brands alongside Fiat and make a go of it. Or sell them off as they have market value. Jeep made by Tata anyone??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 i saw a red fiat ducato today in los angeles traffic -- at about 3pm, it was heading east on olympic boulevard towards century city. had michigan manufacturer's plates...looked similar to the pic i posted above, but no side windows and lots of dirt. i was headed the opposite direction, and didn't have my phone handy to take a pic.... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal505 Posted January 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 André, willing to bet it was coming from the desert! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 possibly, or headed back that way...it was heading east, and we're about 5 miles from the ocean as the crow flies (i saw the ducato right near my house). living on the westside of LA, i see these manufacturer's test cars about once or twice a month...usually they are camouflaged with black vinyl covers (like bras, but covering the whole car) but this ducato was completely uncovered. as far as i can tell, though, it was the current model so either we are getting the current model (as a RAM) or the vehicle i saw was a test mule. also, i occasionally get called by local marketing firms to do focus groups...if i have the time and it's something i'm interested in, i'll try to get into the group (the phone screeners will give you subtle hints as to the demographic answers they are looking for, they get paid to fill the groups). last year i was in a focus group for the car that eventually became the dodge dart....i didn't mention it at the time b/c they made us sign a confidentiality agreement. they showed us a mockup of the car and asked us what we thought... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 saw two more fiat ducatos -- one yesterday (black), one today (grey). the one i saw today had "auto testing & development services" on the door...both had michigan manufacturer's plates... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 I was wrong about Fiat and Peugeot giving up on the commercial vehicle joint venture (Sevelsud); it was the minivan cooperative venture of Sevelnord that they quit on. So a Ducato would be Boxer-able, if it matters to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 it's officially official: the ram promaster... according to the linked article, the US version will use chrysler engines. so the ducatos i've been seeing must be test mules... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted February 9, 2013 Report Share Posted February 9, 2013 Frikken ugly would be a kind description. The European ones are all diesels so I guess it was easier to drop a gas guzzler engine in there. However, I see a 4 banger diesel is available. Semi-interesting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal505 Posted February 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2013 I think it's pretty cool. Interesting how some "euro goodness" came from the nasty split between Daimler Benz and Chysler corp. Now not only do we Americans have the Mercedes Benz Sprinter, we get another uber-cool euro van. Sina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted July 10, 2013 Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 here's a related news item -- GM is reported to be considering selling peugeot vans in the US. GM would sell these vehicles under one of its own brands, GMC i'm guessing (qualité professionnelle!). so in the future we may not only be able to buy the boxer/ducato/promaster, but also the bipper, partner and/or expert... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 okay, i'm linking to this story (en français) -- it doesn't say anything else about the GM-PSA van deal besides what's mentioned in the reuters article i linked to (above), except that it mentions that the peugeot expert is going to be sold in some markets as the toyota proace. i did not know that! also, in the article they photoshopped a chevrolet badge onto a peugeot expert... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my3AWDgst Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Damn that thing is ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 well, these are work trucks, they will be bought in fleets or available for rental at hertz-penske so the looks are less important than the practical aspects of the things. if you are judging based on looks, though -- ram trucks has said that the promaster will be available later this summer (which means any time now, i guess) but one size below that, they are still selling a windowless variant of the dodge caravan (the ram c/v tradesman); in that same class of work vehicle, chevrolet will soon be selling a badge-engineered version of the nissan nv200 called the "city express." like its nissan source, the city express is god-awful looking. the expert looks pretty good compared to this lot, IMHO, but maybe a bit less attractive than the competing ford transit connect... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my3AWDgst Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 None of those vans look as bad as the Pug one. MBZ did a great job with Sprinters,looks and performance top noch. Last year in Europe I saw few of them and I was like WTF this thing is Awfully ugly. Im hopping not to see one this Thursday :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted February 15, 2014 Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 reviving this thread....so now the ram promaster is a thing, i've seen a couple here around LA. i've also been reading that fiat is bringing the doblo small van to compete with the successful ford transit connect (now in its second generation here in north america)...a couple of days ago i saw a red doblo driving down olympic boulevard here in west LA -- the same place i saw the ram promaster (née fiat ducato) vans. like those larger vans, the doblo i saw was red, with no badges of any kind and with michigan manufacturer's plates. that sighting is what prompted me to revive this thread. also earlier in this thread, we talked about GM bringing eurovans to north america as ford and fiat/chrysler have done...GM will shortly be selling nissan's nv200 as the chevrolet city express (another vehicle in the transit connect/doblo class). you may remember the nv200, it got lots of press a while back as NYC's choice for the new taxi vehicle to replace the extinct ford crown victoria. as to why GM is selling a rebadged nissan and not one of its own opel/vauxhall vehicles, here's an interesting article that addresses that question. long story short, the nissan was ready to go, already federalized and being built in north america (mexico). GM may yet sell its opel vans here. interestingly, a number of those vehicles are rebadged renaults. the opel/vauxhall movano -- a ram promaster/ford transit-class van-- is in reality the renault master. the opel/vauxhall vivaro is the renault trafic. i've read here and there that the next version of this vehicle will be brought to the US as a replacement for the venerable chevrolet van (now called the chevrolet express)/gmc savana. it will be interesting to see where this vehicle is built...renault/nissan make lots of cars in mexico, as does GM...GM vans are currently built in the US (in missouri). andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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