A rear door assembly for a vehicle includes a motor having a shaft with a gear attached thereto. A first end of a lever is rigidly fixed to the shaft for rotation therewith proximate the gear. A belt is engaged with the gear. A rear door is pivotally attached to the vehicle and is movable between a door closed orientation and a door open orientation. The rear door has a gear assembly coupled to the lever. The rear door and the gear assembly are moved by the lever upon rotation of the lever by the motor. The gear assembly receives rotary motion from the belt such that an angular displacement of the rear door caused by the rotary motion of the belt during movement of the rear door between the closed orientation and the open orientation occurs at half the rate of the angular displacement of the lever.