Volkswagen's most popular vehicles will all receive a new engine in the second half of the year, in the shape of the company's latest 2-liter turbodiesel unit.

The new EA288 engine is already powering vehicles all around Europe, and Volkswagen has now announced the models it'll power in North America, too.

The 2015 Volkswagen Golf, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Passat and Jetta TDI models will all arrive in showrooms later this year, equipped with the common-rail, direct-injected unit.

It touts a 150-horsepower output, 10 horses more than the current diesel, with 236 pounds-feet of torque.

Very little is shared with the previous unit, and many changes are focused on reducing emissions--complex exhaust gas recirculation is employed, the car's intercooler is integrated with the intake manifold, and exhaust after-treatment systems are packaged close to the engine for optimal operating temperatures.

VW has reduced internal friction in the new engine, there's a new two-stage oil pump, and balancer shafts ensure it'll be as smooth as it is frugal.

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No EPA-rated efficiency figures are yet known for the new range of diesels, though Volkswagen is claiming thirty percent better economy than the equivalent gasoline models.

What the new engine must beat is the old engine's competitive fuel consumption figures--35 mpg combined for the 2014 Passat TDI, 34 for the Golf and Jetta, and 32 combined for the Beetle, all with the manual transmission.

Buyers will also be expecting highway figures better than the Passat TDI's current 43 mpg--though traditionally, VW diesel owners haven't found it difficult to top the EPA-rated numbers on long, steady drives.

What's certain is that the new models will be popular in VW's range--in 2013, TDI Volkswagens accounted for 24 percent of the automaker's U.S. sales, the best year so far. The company sold over 100,000 diesels across the VW and Audi brands, over three quarters of total U.S. diesel sales.

"We’re excited to see the increasing numbers of customers able to enjoy the reliability, durability, fuel-efficiency and power of Clean Diesel engines," said VW in a statement.

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