Uber has lost yet another executive after a vice president whose remit included the self-driving car division resigned in a blow to the company, which is currently fighting a high-profile lawsuit with Google about the autonomous technology.

Sherif Markaby resigned from his position as Uber's vice president of global vehicle programmes a year after he joined the company from Ford, where he had spent 25 years and was director of global electronics and engineering.

It is not clear what triggered Mr Markaby's departure, which marks the fifth high-profile exit from Uber in recent months, but it will raise doubts about the firm's ability to bonce back from its current state of crisis.

The scandal-ridden company is currently fighting against allegations that it stole its driverless car technology from Google, and trying to recover from claims of sexual harassment in its head offices. In the UK it is also appealing an employment tribunal's ruling that its drivers should be classed as employees, which could destabilise its business model.

Uber said the departure is not related to the lawsuit.