Ram ProMaster… Fiat Ducato doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?

It’s taken a long time, but European car and van manufacturers are finally starting to work out how to sell the same vehicles in Europe and North America, helped by either global brands (Ford) or part-owned US brands (Mercedes-Benz and Fiat).

In the van market, Mercedes-Benz has been very successful with the Dodge Sprinter, while Ford is gradually introducing some of its European car and van models — such as the Focus, and I suspect, next year’s new two-tonne Transit — to the US market.

Now its the turn of Fiat, which is using its Chrysler brand to introduce the Ducato van to North America. Chrysler commercial vehicles are branded as Ram, so the Ducato has become the awesomely-cheesy sounding Ram ProMaster!

Naturally, it has had an engine transplant, and ProMaster models will be offered with a choice of Chrysler’s 280hp, 3.5-litre Pentastar V6, coupled with six-speed auto box, or Fiat’s European 3-litre, 174hp diesel engine, coupled with Fiat’s five-speed automated manual Dualogic transmission.

It looks like a Fiat Ducato — but thanks to a 3.5l V6 petrol engine for the US market, it definitely doesn’t sound like one!

Fiat says that the Ram ProMaster will be as near identical as possible to the European spec van, external changes limited to ‘branding and legal requirements’, while the interior is based on the European version, but has been ‘adapted for U.S. customers’. Not sure what that means, other than the omission of a clutch pedal…