You might think that of all groups most likely to barrage a Facebook post with "Likes" in the shortest possible time, pop star Justin Bieber's army of wildly fanatical teen fans would top the list.

Not so: A new study by Visibli has shown that German automaker Audi has the most engaged fans on Facebook, measured by the number of "likes" on each status update per 100,000 fans.

An average of 228 people per 100,000 "like" Audi's latest status each time the brand posts some information on its facebook page, compared to 181 "likes" on the average Justin Bieber update. The only other brand in the top five is American Airlines which receives 128 "likes" per 100,000 fans, fewer than that of Chamillionaire and Lady Gaga in third and fourth respectively.

So why is Audi in such a position? It's not clear from the study quite why Audi's fans have beaten the "Beliebers" to the top spot but as a particularly design and technology-led automaker its fans might be more turned on to relevant updates than that of other brands. Its strong presence and great results in high-level motor sport such as the American Le Mans Series might also be a factor.

Audi facebook fans more engaged than Justin Bieber's

Audi facebook fans more engaged than Justin Bieber's

Other discoveries from the study were that generally, the more fans a brand such as Audi has, the less overall engagement, wheras the opposite is true for artists such as Bieber and Gaga. Media organizations tend to receive the greatest number of comments per post, with 43 to 17 for artists and 9 for brands.

Status updates have a "half life" of about a day, too. Within 22 hours a status update will have got 95 percent of the "likes" it's likely to get, and 80 percent are within the first seven hours.

With these results in mind, we're hoping Justin doesn't swap his current Range Rover for an Audi Q7. Facebook might not be able to handle it...

[Visibli via Mashable]