Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares' total compensation in 2023 rose 56% to €36.49m (about R756.8m), the Italian-American carmaker with brands including Chrysler and Fiat said on Thursday.

Tavares' total compensation last year compared to the €23.46m (R486.7m) he was awarded for 2022.

Tavares received €23.47m (R449.7m) in cash and vested equity in 2023, including a €10m (R207.5m) transformation incentive to meet milestones tied to challenges the auto industry is facing on global mobility, technology and the electrification of vehicles.

Stellantis said it led the industry in financial performance in the first half of 2023 and added since the company's inception in 2021, its share price has outperformed the automotive industry and the S&P 500 by a significant margin.

During last year's talks with the Detroit Three carmakers the United Auto Workers (UAW) union harshly criticised the pay of the General Motors, Ford and Stellantis CEOs in making the case for significant wage hikes for hourly workers.

Ford and GM have not yet disclosed CEO pay for 2023. In 2022, GM CEO Mary Barra received $29m (R555.6m) in total compensation and Ford CEO Jim Farley received nearly $21m (R402.4m).

After targeted strikes at the three carmakers, the UAW's deals with them included an immediate 11% pay hike and 25% increase in base wages through 2028, a reduction in time needed to reach top pay to three years from eight. They are also boosting the pay of temporary workers by 150% and making them permanent.

Stellantis said its average employee earned €70,404 (R1.4m) in 2023, up 9.4% from €64,328 (R1.3m) in 2022. The ratio last year of Tavares total compensation to the average employee was 518, up significantly over 2022.

Stellantis said the higher ratio was because of the impact of a one-time, long-term 2021-2025 incentive.

Stellantis said its workforce worldwide fell 5.2% in 2023 to just over 258,000, with its North American workforce dropping from 88,835 in 2022 to 81,341 employees last year.