The average annual salary of executives and staff at Mercedes-Benz Korea surpassed W100 million.

According to a 2012 audit the company submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service on Wednesday, the company spent W10.42 billion on its payroll.

Considering that it had 101 employees as of the end of last year, the average annual salary of each was W103.17 million.

This is an 18-percent increase from a year ago, when their average salary stood at W87.29 million.

The increase and amount are higher than in most of Korea's top conglomerates. Hyundai Motor was the highest-paying Korean employer in the country in 2011 with an average pay of W89 million per person.

The hike is especially surprising as the company struggled last year. According to Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the market share of Mercedes-Benz in Korea dropped from 18.6 percent in 2011 to 15.58 percent last year, and sales decreased from W1.3 trillion to W1.29 trillion in 2012.

Critics say the company passed the cost on to customers by hiking the price of parts.