Ram Trucks, known for its full-size utes in Australia, also sells commercial vans in the US, and its newest model has a French connection.
A commercial van first introduced by France's Peugeot-Citroen group a decade ago has now been rebadged by eight different brands, with Ram Trucks unveiling the newest model for the US.
In Australia, it is available as the Peugeot Expert and the Fiat Scudo, with the latter model arriving in local showrooms at the start of this year as part of an expanded Fiat Professional line-up.
The van, codenamed 'K0', first debuted in 2016 and is built on a modified version of Peugeot-Citroen's EMP2 modular front-wheel-drive architecture, which is used by passenger cars and SUVs such as the Peugeot 308, 408, 3008 and 5008.
It is the first Peugeot-based model to be offered in the United States since the 2021 merger of Groupe PSA (Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall) and FCA (Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Lancia and Maserati), forming the new automotive conglomerate Stellantis.
However, the new-generation 2026 Jeep Cherokee was the first US-market Stellantis model to use an engine developed by Peugeot-Citroen, with its 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol hybrid originating from the French brands.
Previously sold from 2015 until 2022, the first-generation Ram ProMaster City was a rebadged version of the smaller Fiat Doblo, which became a rebadged Peugeot Partner in its next generation, while the larger Ram ProMaster is based on the Fiat Ducato.
Similar to the Peugeot origins of Stellantis' 'K0' medium vans, the Fiat Ducato is the basis for its range of large commercial vans, with rebadged versions sold by Ram, Peugeot, Citroen, Toyota, Opel, Vauxhall and Iveco.
The 2027 ProMaster City will feature a Peugeot-developed, non-hybrid 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, while versions sold by the other brands in Australia, Europe and other markets focus on diesel or electric power.
It will be manufactured at a Stellantis factory in Turkey – Australia's Peugeot and Fiat versions are made in France – meaning it is likely to incur an additional 25 per cent tariff in the US, known as the 'chicken tax', which has often seen imported utes and vans ruled out due to resulting high prices.
In Australia, Ram Trucks – managed by American Special Vehicles, a venture between Ateco Automotive and the Walkinshaw Automotive Group – focuses on its range of full-size utes, including the Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500, which are remanufactured from left- to right-hand drive in Melbourne.
Stellantis' van range appears to be among the most 'rebadged' models currently on sale globally, excluding shared platforms such as Volkswagen's MQB, Toyota's TNGA and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi's CMF, which often have unique body designs on top of shared components.
Historic examples of heavily rebadged models include the Isuzu MU and Trooper SUVs – predecessors of today's MU-X – which were also sold concurrently by Holden, Opel, Vauxhall, Chevrolet, Honda, Acura and Subaru, as General Motors formerly owned a stake in Isuzu.
The long-running Suzuki Carry Kei truck has been rebadged by various manufacturers over the years – including Holden (GM), Ford, Daewoo and Piaggio – and is currently also sold as a Mazda, Mitsubishi or Nissan.
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
