Market research firm Owler has released the findings from its 2017 Perceptions of Leadership Team Diversity study, and it appears the auto industry has a way to go on the diversity front–at least in terms of showing that side of itself to consumers.

Pollsters asked nearly 12,000 people about their perceptions of diversity across many industries and 1,100 companies. Automakers and suppliers didn’t fare as poorly as the real estate and construction sector, but respondents still assumed their workforces were less diverse than average. From the press release:

[T]he study examines how companies perceive corporate leadership team diversity. After all, perception is nine-tenths of reality, as they say. Companies can promote how diverse they are all day long, but how the general public perceives these changes on the ground – and in the c-suite – is what this report is all about.

As part of our analysis, we compared perceptions of companies in the public and private sector in different industries across the United States including the Automobile industry. According to our report, The average diversity perception score for automobiles and parts companies was -4.9% lower than the median. You can click here to see how each industry ranks. You can click here to see the overall rankings.

Here’s what we found especially interesting in reviewing the key findings — Perceptions don’t seem to match up with reality. This raises the important question of what is the true state of corporate diversity? And, why are public perceptions so far from reality?

You can check out full results from the study here.