Toyota’s executives must be green with envy once they hear the salaries of their counterparts in Nissan. That is because, Nissan’s top directors were paid more than twice as much for the fiscal year that ended last March than their equals at Toyota, according to a report from Bloomberg. And this despite the fact that Toyota is Japan’s biggest car manufacturer and Nissan is number two.
In a statement that Nissan issued before its annual meeting on June 29, average salary, including bonuses, for 14 executives was 126 million yen, or $ 1.6 million. In comparison, Toyota paid its 38 directors and auditors an average of about 41 million yen per executive.
One possible explanation for this discrepancy could be the 16% rise in global vehicle sales for Nissan in the first three months of 2011, which resulted in a net income of 31 billion yen. In the same period, Toyota saw its profit drop by 12% to 25 billion yen, the lowest figure in the last 18-months.
Nissan’s CEO, Carlos Ghosn (pictured with the LEAF, Nissan’s first fully electric car), remains the highest-paid CEO among the Japanese companies that declare their salaries, with 891 million yen, or $11.1 million. Ghosn is adamant that his company’s pay strategy is correct, since he wants the shareholders to have “the best performance possible with the best talent”.
Oh, and one last thing: if you think Ghosn is well-paid, consider that Ford’s CEO, Allan Mulally, received a paycheck of $27 million in 2010…
