(Bloomberg) — Stellantis NV shareholders rejected the automaker’s compensation policy in a non-binding vote after Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares’ pay came under fire in France.
The remuneration report was opposed by 52% of voters at an annual meeting held online Wednesday. The maker of Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot autos paid Tavares 19.2 million euros ($20.9 million) last year, according to its annual report. That doesn’t include long-term incentives.
Chairman John Elkann said the company would take the results of the vote into account. In a later statement, Stellantis said it would explain how that was done in the 2022 report.
In a response to a shareholder question, the company said the award is “consistent with Stellantis’ pay-for-performance philosophy and need to compete with peers worldwide.” Stellantis was created last year following a merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group. Tavares, 63, in March set a goal to maintain double-digit returns through the end of the decade after reporting some of the strongest margins in the industry last year of 11.8%.
Read more: Stellantis Paid Marchionne’s Estate Over $29 Million Last Year
The vote followed media scrutiny in France on Tavares’ pay, which was criticized by investor Phitrust and called “not normal,” by government spokesman Gabriel Attal.
“Is this extremely high remuneration socially justified when the group will probably have to face massive restructuring with job cuts because of production overcapacity and a doubling up after the merger,” Phitrust said.
The investor also called out the company for not holding an in-person annual meeting that would have allowed “direct interaction with its shareholders.” Stellantis blamed Covid-19 for barring shareholders from attending.
The online event was held at the automaker’s nondescript headquarters in the Netherlands, which is roughly 350 square meters of office space on one floor of a building near the airport. Tavares was present, but Elkann attended remotely from Italy. Both questions and answers from shareholders were read out by a company official.
About 35 people are based at the headquarters as part of the company’s “asset light” approach, according to a spokesman. Stellantis has about 282,000 employees worldwide, with historic manufacturing centers in France, Italy and the U.S.
(Updates with company performance in fourth paragraph)
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