(Reuters) - China-based electric automaker Nio said on Friday Steven Wei Feng has stepped down as its chief financial officer, effective immediately, citing personal reasons.

Feng would be succeeded by insider Stanley Yu Qu, who had joined the company in October 2016 and last served as a senior vice president of finance.

Qu is now tasked with steering the company's finances through several challenges facing the electric vehicle industry such as a price war and tightened restrictions on Chinese imports.

Prior to joining Nio, Qu had held financial leadership roles at companies, including Lear Corporation and Johnson Controls, from 2013 to 2016. He had also worked at accounting firm PwC for a decade before that.

U.S.-listed shares of Nio were down 2.5% in premarket trading.