Herndon, VA - Oliver Schmidt, General Manager, Energy and Environmental Office, Volkswagen Group of America confirmed the timing of the company’s newest, most fuel-efficient, TDI Clean Diesel engine, designated EA288. During a speech delivered at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich., Schmidt announced that the new engine will power the 2015 Golf, Beetle, Passat, Jetta, which are set to hit dealer showrooms in the second half of 2014.

The announcement underscores Volkswagen Group of America’s continued success with diesel technology: Year-to-date the Volkswagen Group of America has sold more than 47,000 clean diesel vehicles, including more than 10,000 in the month of July alone. This represents nearly 78 percent of the diesel sales for passenger cars in the United States this year.

“The Volkswagen Group is a leader in clean diesel technology,” said Schmidt. “With the introduction of the new EA288 engine, we are excited that our family of TDI Clean Diesel vehicles is continuing to improve and will be even more clean, fuel efficient and powerful. “

The new EA288 will eventually replace all the 2.0-liter TDI Clean Diesel engines fitted in Audi and Volkswagen TDI Clean Diesel models. The engine is a turbocharged, common-rail, direct-injection four-cylinder engine that makes 150 horsepower—an increase of 10 hp over the current engine—and 236 pound-feet of torque. This powerplant shares only the bore spacing with the previous diesel engine that shared the same designation. A number of changes have been made to help reduce emissions, such as: use of a complex exhaust gas recirculation system (with high pressure EGR and a cooled low-pressure EGR); integration of the water-cooled intercooler and the EGR valve with the intake manifold, which also improves throttle response; and packaging the exhaust after-treatment components close to the engine by combining the DPF with the SCR Catalyst.

The engine also has a number of modifications to help minimize friction and optimize fuel economy: there are low-friction bearings for the camshaft and balancer shafts, piston rings that have less pre-tension, and the oil pump is a two-stage device with volumetric flow regulation.