Make it a spec-by-committee 2.0L turbo and it’ll sell peanuts, because why bother when you can buy a quicker and more practical hot hatch?
Make it something different by using a V6 and it’ll sell peanuts, because it’ll be so thirsty in comparison and people are terrified of spending £40k on a car and then a few extra quid in fuel.
There’s no right answer. Everyone is making 4WD hatches now because that’s what the majority of people want. A 2 seat coupe/convertible the wrong side of £40k just isn’t popular, unless you’re a premium manufacturer. A new Zed simply wouldn’t sell enough to make any money. Even the 718, the best sports car you can buy for non-silly money, isn’t doing anywhere near as well as previously because it has an engine that sounds like a toaster: in all other aspects it’s flawless, but making it so anodyne with that engine now has people looking at alternatives.