Nio takes another hit as two senior executives leave the electric car startup

Nio, the Chinese EV startup that’s recently dealt with vehicle recalls and employee layoffs, has now seen two senior executives leave the company.

Nio’s former software head Li Zhang and former U.K. managing director Angelika Sodian have both left the company, a spokesman confirmed to the Financial Times (FT).

Furthermore, while the company recently laid off 70 U.S. employees and closed a San Francisco office, a spokesman also told the Financial Times that Nio has cut 300 jobs over the past few months — about 3% of its workforce.

Just last week, Nio recalled nearly 5,000 ES8 electric SUVs in China due to a “spontaneous combustion” battery risk. Those recalls followed three reported Nio fires in China in recent months.

One source told the FT that Li was “squeezed out of Nio because the software has been so bad.” Nio denied this, stating that she left for personal reasons.

The report claims software has been a weak point for the company, and “a major source of customer complaints.”

Earlier this year, Nio reported a $1.4 billion net loss in 2018, and announced it was scrapping its earlier plans to build a Shanghai factory at the same time.

Nio raised more than $1 billion in a U.S. IPO last year to accelerate EV production, and the startup started deliveries of its ES6 SUV last month.

Nio’s stock (NIO) reached $11.60 a share shortly after its IPO, but it has since fallen to around $2.60.