Pixar had released six feature films before Cars became its seventh.
The six earlier Pixar features were Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. Cars followed The Incredibles and arrived in 2006, making it the studio’s seventh theatrical feature-length film.
This count refers to Pixar’s feature films, not every project created or released with Pixar’s involvement. The studio had also made short films, including the pioneering short Luxo Jr., and had contributed computer-animation work before becoming known primarily for its theatrical features.
Cars is sometimes described as Pixar’s sixth film because Toy Story 2 was originally developed as a direct-to-video project before becoming a theatrical release. In the final theatrical filmography, however, Toy Story 2 counts as Pixar’s second feature, so Cars is correctly identified as number seven.