In Pixar's Cars 2, what is the real identity of the villain Miles Axlerod?

Miles Axlerod is revealed in Pixar's Cars 2 to be a lemon car.

Axlerod presents himself as a wealthy former oil baron who has converted to electric power and created the World Grand Prix. Behind that public image, he leads a conspiracy involving defective cars known as lemons. The plan uses Allinol fuel and electromagnetic devices to create accidents, discredit alternative energy, and make the race a global spectacle.

His identity is part of the film's spy-thriller structure, in which Mater investigates clues after being mistaken for an agent. The term “lemon” refers to an unreliable or defective vehicle, not to a fruit-shaped design.

The character is sometimes confused with Professor Zündapp, another member of the conspiracy. Zündapp is a villainous scientist, while Axlerod is the mastermind whose apparent reform and public leadership conceal his true role.