The Wall Street Journal reports that three key executives from the BMW i EV team have left the Bavarian automaker to join Future Mobility Corp, a Chinese startup backed by Tencent Holdings.

Carsten Breitfeld, a 20-year BMW veteran who developed the i8 plug-in sports car, left BMW last month to become CEO of Future Mobility. Now it seems that three other members of BMW’s i sub-brand have followed.

Dirk Abendroth, who developed electric powertrains for the i series, Benoit Jacob, head of design at BMW i, and Henrik Wenders, head of BMW i product management, will take up positions at Future Mobility, the WSJ reports, citing unnamed people “familiar with the situation.” BMW declined to comment.

Source: Wall Street Journal