European luxury brands' sales surge in H1

SEOUL, July 6 (Yonhap) -- Sales of European luxury goods in South Korea increased sharply in the first half of the year despite price hikes, industry sources said Wednesday. French luxury brand Louis Vuitton registered 242.4 billion won (US$227.5 million) in sales in the first six months of 2011, up 31.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the sources. Chanel's first half sales increased 54.8 percent on-year to reached 130 billion won in the January-June period, and Gucci posted 94.8 billion won in the January-June period, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier. Chanel, which hiked prices of its goods by as much as 25 percent in April, saw the largest sales increase, while Louis Vuitton raised prices twice in February and June, they said. Experts said that the market for luxury goods has been booming in South Korea in recent years, amid sluggish demand for the pricey brands in Europe and Japan hit by the massive earthquake in March. "Luxury brands have been looking for new revenue sources in South Korea and China where consumption of the products has soared rapidly in recent years," said an official at a department store in Seoul. Makers of the luxury brands are under fire here for sticking to their high prices despite South Korea's free trade agreement with the European Union (EU) that took effect this month and calls for cutting or removing tariffs. The deal calls for eliminating or phasing out tariffs on 96 percent of EU goods and 99 percent of South Korean goods within three years after the accord takes effect.