The move would make Ford the first US company to enter Myanmar’s automotive sector, which recently agreed a deal for production and distribution with Japan’s Suzuki.

Ford has signed a deal to distribute cars and pickup trucks in Myanmar, the head of Capital Automotive said.

American brands PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, GE, Caterpillar and Danish brewer Carlsberg have all signed distribution deals in Myanmar as Western firms race to get a foothold on a market which was for so long out of bounds due to US and EU sanctions.