MINI goes for a more affordable approach with the MINI First

MINI is finally taking a different approach. Long considered as a car that catered to a specific audience, MINI is in the process of producing a car that is considered as the most affordable MINI to date. Called the ‘MINI First’, the car comes with a standard 1.4 liter, 75 horsepower four-cylinder engine that is configured with a six-speed manual gearbox with a 0-60 mph time of 13.2 seconds.

While it’s far from being considered as the fastest MINI out of the block, the MINI First does have one thing going for it. Its fuel-efficiency, which rounds up to 53.3 miles per gallon, makes it one of those cars that is sure to become a hot item the day it rolls out of production.

The car’s pretty affordable too, thanks to a price tag that comes in around £10,950 (or about $17,950 USD). In addition to that, the MINI First, while considered the cheapest MINI car ever, doesn’t come short on the technology barometer either. Despite the company’s insistence that this car is as bared-down as any MINI car there is, the First still comes with all the standard features of most MINIs, including an auto start-stop, regenerative breaking, variable valve timing, and a shift point indicator.

Continued after the jump.