Ford paid Chief Executive Alan Mulally $21 million last year

Ford Motor Co. paid Chief Executive Alan Mulally $21 million last year, down from $29.5 million in the previous year because the company didn’t meet all of its financial goals.

Most companies don’t like to talk about what they pay their top executives, but Ford annually issues a news release detailing the compensation of its management team.

Mulally earned $2 million in salary and an additional $4 million in a cash bonus in 2012. His total compensation includes the grant date value of long-term stock options and other performance-based equity awards.

“We believe our 2012 performance clearly shows our management team performed exceedingly well in a difficult environment,” the company said in its proxy statement Friday.

Ford’s financial achievements last year included earning $8 billion in pretax operating profit and $5.7 billion in net income, finishing 2012 with its best balance sheet and liquidity position in years. It posted a record pretax profit of $8.3 billion in North America and a 10.4% operating margin in the region. Ford also launched 25 new or redesigned vehicles and 31 powertrains globally.

The automaker fell short of its global automotive operating-related cash flow, reaching $3.4 billion instead of the $4.6 billion target.

The 2012 compensation for its other top executives included:

Bill Ford, the autommaker’s executive chairman, earned $2 million in salary and $1.1 million in a cash bonus. His total compensation – including the grant date value of long-term stock options and other performance-based equity awards – was $15 million.

Mark Fields, Ford’s chief operating officer, earned $1.4 million in salary and $2.3 million in a cash bonus. His total compensation – including the grant date value of long-term stock options and other performance-based equity awards – was $9 million.

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