Report: Audi Gets Its Sexy Back, Names Justin Timberlake Brand Ambassador

Who better to get across Audi’s “new luxury” message and help promote the youth-targeted A1 premium subcompact than Justin Timberlake. Audi has just announced that the pop star and aspiring actor has been named the luxury German automaker’s official brand ambassador.

In particular, JT will help with an extensive marketing plan that Audi will unveil over the next several months to help promote its new A1 premium subcompact, which will debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March.

“As a superstar he appeals to a young target audience that we’re particularly intent on exciting about the compact and efficient A1,” said Audi board member Peter Schwarzenbauer. And the fact that JT’s image is as clean as it was when he as a mousketeer doesn’t hurt either.

This news also seems to potentially contradict a story we just published, stating that the A1 will not be offered in North America. While JT’s popularity is certainly global, it would seem silly for Audi to not use the superstar’s talent and influence in a market where he is best known.

Official release after the jump:

PRESS RELEASE:

Justin Timberlake new Audi brand ambassador

• Justin Timberlake gets leading role in Audi A1 Internet campaign
• Timberlake: “I am very excited to be a part of the next evolution

Ingolstadt, December 16, 2009 – Justin Timberlake will act as an Audi brand ambassador starting in 2010. The entertainer will play the leading role in an exceptional Audi A1 Internet campaign to be launched in the spring of 2010.

“Justin Timberlake is an extraordinary artist. He manages to keep advancing his personal development while proving his abilities in different branches of the arts,” says Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Marketing and Sales. “As a superstar he appeals to a young target audience that we’re particularly intent on exciting about the compact and efficient A1, which is superlatively well suited for city traffic.

In the spring of 2010, Audi will launch an extraordinary Internet campaign for the market introduction of the new A1. That’s where Timberlake will play a leading role. “Audi has always been at the forefront of engineering and technology”, says Timberlake, „and I am very excited to be a part of the next evolution conscience with Audi and the A1″.