NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Americans really love Germans. At least German car companies.

Porsche 911

Porsche, BMW and Volkswagen top the J.D. Power 2003 APEAL Corporate Index Ranking for car companies overall. APEAL stands for Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout.

The results are based in responses from 102,975 new-vehicle owners in eight categories of vehicle performance and design. Vehicles, carmakers and brands were rated on a 1,000-point scale. The average brand received 850 points overall. Porsche received 903, BMW 898 and VW 871.

Toyota's Lexus brand topped the nameplate ranking with 909 points. Porsche's 903 made it second on that list. (Since Porsche doesn't make any other brands, its corporate and nameplate score were identical.) The BMW brand was third with 901 points.

Lexus vehicles also came out at the top of three different vehicle-class lists, more than any other brand.

The Lexus LS 430 was the highest-rated premium luxury car, beating the Mercedes SL-Class and BMW 7-series. The 2004 Lexus RX330 topped the list of luxury SUVs, followed by the Lexus GX 470 and Land Rover Range Rover. Among mid-level luxury cars, the Lexus GS 300/GS 430 was tops, followed by the Jaguar S-type and Mercedes-Benz E-class.

The 2004 Toyota Sienna was the most beloved minivan in the survey -- followed by the Honda Odyssey and Chrysler Town & Country -- giving Japan's Toyota Motor Sales a total of four survey-topping vehicles.

No Porsche car ranked at the top of a segment, but the Porsche 911 tied for second place among premium sports cars with the Chevrolet Corvette. The BMW Z4 was the top car in that segment. (The Porsche Cayenne SUV was not ranked because not enough responses were collected from either 2003 or 2004 Cayennes.)

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Several all-new or redesigned models earned much higher APEAL scores than the models they replaced. The Mazda6 was the most improved design, earning an a score 8 percent higher than the car it replaced, the 626. The Land Rover Range Rover, Saturn Ion and 2004 Toyota Sienna redesigns also saw big customer satisfaction improvements.