(Yicai) Sept. 22 -- Matthias Aydt, the new global chief executive of California-based Faraday Future, will have a lot of work in restoring investor confidence in the troubled smart car company and one of the ways is stock purchasing.

Aydt, who has worked for FF for over seven years, will replace Chen Xuefeng as the global CEO on Sept. 29, the firm set up in the United States by Chinese businessman Jia Yueting announced in a press release yesterday. Before this, Aydt was the head of product definition, mobility ecosystems, and business development. His next job is to boost the production of the company's first model.

Last month, FF delivered its first production vehicle, an FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance, even though deliveries were supposed to start already in 2018. Financial troubles have not stopped though. The firm carried out a reverse stock split on Aug. 28 to keep its shares trading on the Nasdaq in an attempt to boost the equity price to exceed USD1.

FF's stock price [NASDAQ: FFIE] surged 7.1 percent in pre-market trading as of 6.02 p.m. after closing 6.2 percent lower at USD3.70 yesterday.

Senior executives, including Aydt, founder Jia, and Chen, have voluntarily agreed to reduce their pay and buy FF stock, the firm wrote in another press release yesterday. They will use half of their pay in the next three months to purchase Class A common shares from the company to demonstrate their trust and support. After the issuance, the shares will have a lock-up period of 180 days.

"Executives agreeing to invest part of their compensation in exchange for additional ownership shows a deep alignment of interest with stockholders," Aydt said, adding that he believes that FF has been undervalued by the market.

Chen will resume his prior position as FF China CEO and take on the new role of executive vice president of global industrialization. Chen will implement the firm's China business development plans, including the establishment of a joint venture, market entry, integration of supply chains, and cost cuts.

Editor: Emmi Laine