Prime Minister David Cameron has consoled a worker at a luxury car manufacturer who believed that the VIP guest visiting the plant with the initials DC was going to be Formula One driver David Coulthard.

During a jokey PM Direct question session at the Rolls Royce factory in Goodwood, West Sussex, Mr Cameron praised the "renaissance" of the country's motor industry as well as speaking of his hopes for his favourite football team Aston Villa.

One staff member said that he had been "a little bit disappointed" because he had heard rumours that the special visitor was going to be Coulthard.

Apologising for not being Coulthard, Mr Cameron said: "Sorry it's not David Coulthard but it's actually a good way to celebrate not just what you do here but the whole of the motor industry and motorsport industry of Britain.

"I think we are seeing a great renaissance, it's great for Formula One with almost all the cars designed and made here in Britain with the incredible skills in engineering.

"We have the luxury end of the car market which you represent here and other types, obviously I won't mention names as I might get into trouble, in other parts of the country which seem to be doing well and also we have the mass car market.

"Britain is now a net exporter of cars and I have some good news for you today, in the European league of car manufacturers we have just overtaken France, we overtook Italy some time ago, we now have Spain and Germany in our sights."

The worjer then asked the Prime Minister if he was an Arsenal fan, only to be disappointed a second time when Mr Cameron replied that he was a Villa fan which received groans from the crowd.

Mr Cameron said: "I have a sister who is an Arsenal fan so she would be very happy. My son went all the wrong way, I took him to a QPR v Villa game because QPR is my local team in London, I thought he would either become a Hoops fan or a Villa fan.

"He came out of the game, it was a bit of a disappointing game, he said 'Dad, those teams are obviously not right for me, I am going to be a Chelsea fan'.

"So I have a Chelsea fan for a son and an Arsenal fan for a sister and worse than that when I took my son to a Villa-Chelsea game last year when Villa went down 8-0, at some stage a television camera panned on me and there I was with my son and actually amongst some Chelsea fans as some friends had given us some tickets.

"So my son thinks it's perfectly normal for 20,000 people to sing in unison, when your team is 6-0 down, 'Cameron, Cameron, give us a song'.

"I am not going to make any predictions, but I am hoping for a couple of Villa gains to lift us out of the danger zone."

When asked by another staff member about the appointment of Tim Sherwood as the new Villa manager, Mr Cameron said: "I am sure Tim Sherwood is going to make a big difference. Obviously in politics when you see a team change their management it can make you a bit nervous."

During the half-hour session, which followed a tour of the production line of luxury cars, Cameron also answered questions on his plans to assist working families with childcare tax breaks and to help small firms run apprenticeship schemes and the need for the HS2 high-speed rail link. He also talked about the threat of ISIS and the need for sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

Mr Cameron also said the Government would support Rolls Royce with its latest venture of producing a sports utility vehicle (SUV) referred to as RR31.

He said: "Best of luck with the SUV, I look forward to it rolling off the production line and seeing it all over the world and in the UK."

Mr Cameron was also offered a chance to drive a Rolls Royce car which he turned down because he said he was not allowed to drive while he remained Prime Minister.

He added: "I do not get to drive at the moment and I am hoping not to drive again after May 7."

After the visit, Mr Cameron was planning to visit the Vauxhall plant in Luton and Cosworth factory in Northampton as part of his day tour of the British motor industry.