(Yicai Global) Nov. 30 -- Shares of Faraday Future soared after the electric vehicle startup founded by Chinese serial entrepreneur Jia Yueting said it has replaced its chief executive amid delays to deliver the first model.

FF's equity price [NASDAQ: FFIE] was 7.7 percent up in pre-market trading at 5.35 p.m. Beijing time after surging by 16.8 percent to close at US 35 cents in New York yesterday. The firm was listed via a special purpose acquisition company during the previous CEO's tenure in 2020 but the share price has dropped more than 95 percent from then.

The carmaker's board of directors has decided after evaluating the firm’s business performance since it went public that Chen Xuefeng, the former China CEO, will take over the global role from Carsten Breitfeld, the California-headquartered firm said in a statement recently.

Breitfeld has not responded to Yicai Global's inquiry.

Chen has been working in the automobile industry for nearly 20 years. He worked for Changan Ford Automobile, Changan Mazda, Ford Motor’s Asia Pacific Product Development Center, and Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive before he joined FF.

The move shows the company is facing challenges in mass production. Last week, FF said it is uncertain when it can deliver the first FF91 luxury electric vehicles so it needs to raise more money this year for production and operations. The plan was to make the first deliveries in July but that was postponed to the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, presales have shrunk as the company registered 369 such orders as of Nov. 17, down from 399 as reported on June 30.

This is not the only recent management change at FF. In September, FF removed Susan Swenson from the position of executive chairperson and Brian Krolicki from its board of directors. Moreover, PricewaterhouseCoopers quit as the company's auditor over risk control concerns.

FF's net loss exceeded USD100 million in the third quarter. It has reported about USD3.3 billion in total losses as of Sept. 30. In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the firm's cash and cash equivalents tallied USD31.8 million, down from USD121 million three months prior.

FF is famous in China for its founder. After failing to repay his debts, Jia fled China for the United States in 2017 to start FF after his previous venture Leshi Internet Information & Technology got fined for fraud and was delisted in 2020.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi