[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Motor shares fell below the 100,000 won mark on Nov. 13 morning, for the first time in nine years since December 2009 amid another rating cut and possible US tariffs on imported cars.

The shares began trading at 99,900 won weighed down by earlier media reports that US President Donald Trump is mulling imposing tariffs on automobile imports. 

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors headquarters in Seoul

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Shares of its smaller affiliate Kia Motors were also trading lower at 28,100 won, a sharp decline from the peak of 80,000 won in early 2012.

In addition, Korea Investors Service, a credit rating agency, cut the ratings of both Hyundai and Kia from “stable” to “negative” on the previous day.

On Oct. 31, a week after Korea’s largest carmaker saw its third-quarter profit plunge by two-thirds, Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings downgraded the ratings of Hyundai and Kia by one notch, from A- to BBB+, saying that “their weakened profitability is unlikely to notably reverse over the next 12-24 months.”

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)