General Motors is suing the city of San Francisco for $121 million, seeking to recover $108 million in taxes and $13 million in interest and penalties on claims that the city started imposing taxes against it unfairly beginning in 2016 based on projected revenues for the Cruise self-driving vehicle division.
In its case, filed in the California Superior Court and the County of San Francisco, GM claims the city overcharged it on its taxes after factoring in the Cruise self-driving car division and linking it in with a $3 billion global revenue, even though the Cruise division is operated separately, The Hill reported.
Cruise, which GM bought in 2016, is headquartered in San Francisco. However, the automaker said the company's revenue models and operations are different, and the two entities have agreed to operate "at arm's length."
GM says it generated only about $677,000 in goods in San Francisco in 2022 and that it maintains a limited presence there as it has no employees, dealerships, physical locations, or manufacturing plants in the city.
City Attorney Office deputy press secretary Alex Shorter-Barrett said his office is "reviewing the complaint and will respond in court."
Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt resigned in November and apologized to staff while the company was undergoing a safety review of its U.S. vehicles.
The company pulled all its vehicles from testing in the U.S. after an Oct. 2 accident involving another vehicle, which ended with one of the Cruise self-driving taxis dragging a pedestrian.
California canceled Cruise's driverless permits, saying the vehicles are not safe for public operation.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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