GM files $121 million lawsuit against San Francisco

General Motors (GM) has filed a lawsuit against San Francisco, looking to recover $108 million in taxes and $13 million in interest that the company alleges the city unfairly imposed starting in 2016.

The case, filed Friday in the California Superior Court and the County of San Francisco, claims that the city charged the company higher taxes than was warranted because it factored in its Cruise self-driving car division, linking it to a $3 billion global revenue, though the company says it is operated separately than GM.

The Detroit-based auto giant is also seeking nearly $13 million in interest and penalties plus interest for the tax issues from 2016 until 2022.  

Though Cruise is headquartered in the city and was purchased by GM in 2016, the company said its operations and revenue models are different and agreements have been made where the two entities are operated “at arm’s length.”

The lawsuit said the company generates minimal sales in San Francisco in 2022, about $677,000 worth of goods, and that it has a limited presence in the city with no employees, manufacturing plants or physical locations or dealerships.

The company did not say why it waited until now to challenge the city’s tax assessment even though it previously paid, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The Hill has reached out to city attorney’s office and GM for additional comment.

The CEO of Cruise resigned in November after the self-driving fleet was pulled from the streets to update its software after a series of collisions. Safety concerns were brought after an Oct. 2 crash in which a Cruise vehicle pulled a pedestrian to the side of the road after the person was hit by another car and pushed into the path of the autonomous car.

California rescinded Cruise’s driverless permits and said they are not safe for public operation.

Bloomberg first reported on the lawsuit.