Now that General Motors is re-entering the medium-duty cabover work truck market and Ford is offering a tractor version of its F-750, how much longer will Ram, backed by its Fiat parent, sit on the sidelines?
I ask because shortly after Fiat took control of Ram, there were rumors that before long Fiat would incorporate some of its European commercial vehicle knowledge into the Ram brand. Fiat owns Iveco in Europe, which offers a variety of trucks ranging up to heavy-duty models. That plan started to come to fruition in 2014 when it launched the Ram ProMaster van, based on the Fiat Ducato. Then, it tapped into its European brethren again with the smaller ProMaster City van, based on the Fiat Doblo.
Ford also tapped its European knowledge with the Transit and Transit Connect vans. With the redesign of its F-650 and F-750 Super Duty models, including that introduction of a tractor model, Ford is aiming to offer a one-stop shopping experience for its customers, many of whom buy vehicles across the Class 1-7 spectrum.
“We’re leveraging our space in engineering and manufacturing and that is allowing us to take the [F-Series] to new places,” John Davis, chief programming engineer-commercial vehicles for Ford, told me earlier this year.
With the news of its re-entry to the medium-duty work truck space, General Motors seems like it might be following the same path. GM last had true medium-duty vehicles in 2009 before discontinuing its Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC TopKick models.
The cabovers, based on Isuzu N-Series models, will be offered in regular cab and crew cab body styles. A GM 6.0L V8 gas engine and 6-speed automatic transmission, or Isuzu 3.0L and 5.2L turbo-diesel engines, will be available depending on the model. The gas-powered models will be assembled in Charlotte, MI.
GM is not new to this process of rebadging vehicles as its Chevrolet City Express van is based on Nissan’s NV200 compact van chassis.
“Bringing low cab forward trucks back to our portfolio strengthens Chevrolet’s commitment to providing commercial customers with more choices and provides customers with a versatile lineup of trucks, vans and crossovers,” said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president of GM Fleet and Commercial sales.
“This addition helps our dealers satisfy their commercial customers’ needs all in one place.”
And therein lies the path GM and Ford are taking—fulfilling customer needs so they don’t need to try a competitor’s product.
So, what does all this mean for Ram?
While Ram has a solid lineup of vehicles, it also has the backing of Fiat’s commercial vehicle knowledge, and that includes Iveco trucks. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has said publicly in the past that the company will explore adding the even larger Class 3-4 Iveco Daily van, although that has been downplayed in the past year. And as long as Iveco offers even larger vehicles overseas, rumors will persist that we could one day see a Class 7 or 8 Ram tractor hauling trailers down the highways.
Are the introductions of the ProMaster City and the ProMaster the basis for an expanded commercial vehicle lineup down the road that eventually will include cabover medium-duty trucks, or maybe even heavy-duty trucks?
In the quest to create single-stop shopping for customers, Ford and GM are upping their game. It’s your move, Ram.
Brian Straight is Fleet Owner’ s managing editor. He can be reached at [email protected]. Join the conversation on Twitter @truckingtalk.
