Maestro yes Metro no
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• Rover has stopped production of the Metro van, although it has enough vehicles in stock to satisfy fleet orders until May; retail sales ended some months ago.
A total of 39,207 were produced between 1982 and 1991. The future of Rover's smallest commercial has been in doubt since the revised Metro car went on sale in May last year. Production of the van continued with the old body and drivetrain alongside the automatic version. The old model was produced in automatic guise while the new version was still under development. The Metro's demise means that the Rover light CV range consists solely of the Maestro van in petrol and diesel form.
The Maestro car is also scheduled for replacement, but no date has been set.
The future for the Maestro van looks brighter than its small stablemate: the company says that current Maestro production is not threatened. Demand for both car and van is strong, with around 7,000 van sales in 1991.
One option that Rover might consider is to continue production of the Maestro van after car production has ceased, as Vauxhall has done with the Astramax. Vauxhall shifted Astramax production to Portugal; Rover might try to sell Maestro production to Leyland Daf Vans — the Maestro and Leyland Daf 200 share the Perkins Prima diesel engine.