Conventional wisdom holds that sales people don’t cost a business money. Unlike product producers, a sales person is a revenue producer. The more sales people, the more chance a business has of earning money. It’s analogous to the relationship automobile dealers have with their manufacturers.

Dealers don’t cost the automaker any money. Dealers buy their vehicles from the manufacturer and are responsible for everything it takes to run their facilities — staffing them, equipping and buying advertising.

That’s why General Motors recent decision to shutter 40 percent of its dealerships raises serious questions as to whether the leadership of “the new GM” fully comprehends the company’s problems. At least not the way it appears to be playing out in Tucson.

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Of five dealerships here, two are losing their GM franchises. Combined, Royal Buick and Don Mackey Cadillac Pontiac GMC employ about 150 people. As it stands now, GM will keep the three other Tucson dealerships; O’Rielly Chevrolet, Quebedeaux Pontiac GMC and Watson Chevrolet, With Pontiac going away as a brand, it remains to be seen how GM will handle the redistribution of its four continuing brands — Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC — especially since the market’s only Buick and Cadillac dealers are going away.

But GM’s problems aren’t its dealers. Even though “the new GM” will be down to four brands, too many of the vehicles are really the same cars under the skin — and not necessarily the cars consumers want to buy. The crossover SUV Chevrolet Traverse is also the Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia with a few styling differences. A GMC Yukon is also the same thing as a Chevrolet Tahoe or a Cadillac Escalade.

Where’s the innovation? The combined sales of the four brands currently account for less market share than Chevrolet had all by itself in 1970.

Meanwhile Toyota and Honda are in all-out marketing battle to win the dollars of consumers who want to buy hybrids. And if you don’t think there’s demand for a hybrid, try to find a new Prius at a Toyota dealer.

GM has plenty of issues but if selling more cars is the company’s goal, it won’t succeed by getting rid of dealers.

Rialto post script

More evidence some people don’t get it: It was no thinly veiled retribution from landlords Scott Stiteler and Don Martin to raise the rent the downtown Rialto Theatre pays to lease an adjacent building for a green room and offices. It’s strictly business. The theater’s foundation was instrumental in killing the deal with the landlords to develop an arts and entertainment complex. Since there’s no deal, all bets are off and the Rialto should pay up.

And we just can’t wait to see what happens if the city goes through with the notion of an eminent domain condemnation to take the building. Considering Stiteler and Martin have their own development plans, the city will have to come up with some good money to be considered fair value. Just what the City of Tucson needs to do right now: spend more taxpayer money after killing a deal that actually could have made money for the city.