A year after the Volkswagen diesel scandal became public Germany is beginning to register a sudden, and sharp drop in the registrations of diesel cars.

A proposal to stop sales of new combustion-engine cars by 2030 has gained cross-party support in Germany's upper house of parliament.

German lawmakers will now urge their counterparts at the European Union in Brussels to push incentives for only zero-emission vehicles to be registered by 2030, German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported.

The magazine said Germany's Bundesrat - the country's federal council - had made the decision in a meeting.

"If the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions is to be taken seriously, no new combustion engine cars should be allowed on roads after 2030," it quoted Greens party lawmaker Oliver Krischer as saying.

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A switch to sales of only zero-emission cars puts thousands of German auto industry jobs at risk since the powertrain of an electric car requires only a tenth of the staff to be assembled. A combustion-engined equivalent needs more workers to assemble cylinders, spark plugs, and gearboxes.

But it comes a year after the diesel scandal became public, at a time when Germany is beginning to register a sudden, and sharp drop in the registrations of diesel cars.

Last week it was reported that "environmental storms sent Europe's diesel car demand into a steep downward spiral" with diesel sales dropping in August by 5 per cent in Germany, 5.8 per cent in France, 5.5 per cent in Belgium and Luxembourg, and a huge 12.9 per cent in the Netherlands.