British Judo has announced Japanese car manufacturer Nissan as its chosen automotive partner ©British Judo

British Judo has announced Japanese car manufacturer Nissan as its chosen automotive partner.

The Yokohama-based company is aiming to help British Judo develop the sport in the United Kingdom by leasing a fleet of 12 vehicles, comprising of Pulsar dCi 110 N-Connecta models, Qashqais and one X-Trail, for use by its staff including a nationwide team of delivery officers.

Nissan’s corporate sales team will also supply a seven-seat NV200 Combi for staff use, and an NV400 L2 SE panel van to support the Destination@BritishJudo project that works with schools to develop the sport at grassroots level.

"We are delighted to be working with Nissan at what is a very exciting time for our sport," said Maria Turnbull-Kemp, finance and operations director at British Judo.

"Our new vehicles and partner Nissan UK will help us meet our objectives of developing the sport at grassroots level and increasing participation."

Gemma Gibbons won silver medals at both the London 2012 Olympic Games and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games
Gemma Gibbons won silver medals at both the London 2012 Olympic Games and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games ©Getty Images

Dan Windross, regional dealer fleet manager at Nissan Motor GB, added: "We are delighted to be working with British Judo in this way and hopefully we can play a role in helping the sport to even greater success in the future."

Great Britain won two Olympic judo medals at London 2012 with Gemma Gibbons taking silver in the women’s under 78 kilograms category and Karina Bryant clinching bronze in the women’s over 78kg division.

The last Olympic medal to go Britain’s way prior to that was silver in the women’s under 70kg category at Sydney 2000, won by Kate Howey.

Gibbons, who has been coached by Howey, also claimed silver for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.