Oct 14 Reuters Indian carmakers39; sales to dealers marked the first decline in 10 quarters in the July to September period, data from an industry body showed on Monday, as the once redhot consumer demand for big cars petered out.

Automakers39; sales to dealers dropped in July, August and September for an aggregate 1.8 yearonyear decline to around 1.06 million in the second quarter, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed.

The sales growth had already slowed from a 4.7 rise in yearago second quarter to 3 in the ApriltoJune quarter.

The drop in automakers39; sales in the latest quarter compares to an even steeper 4.5 decline in dealers39; sales to consumers in the same period, per data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations FADA.

Automakers and dealers have blamed the declines on heavierthanusual rains in June and July. Meanwhile, the prefestive season period, an inauspicious time for bigticket purchases fell entirely in September this year vs October last year.

Heavy rainfall in key states … did impact the sales numbers of some of the segments, said Shailesh Chandra, SIAM39;s president.

Among segments, the increase in sales of utility vehicles, including sports utility vehicles SUVs, slowed sharply to 9 in the quarter from 23.5 in the yearago period.

SUV sales have powered the industry for three years and account for roughly twothirds of total sales. That has helped the likes of Mahindra Mahindra and Toyota.

The…