Cars was the first Pixar film to receive a sequel, released as Cars 2 in 2011.
Cars 2 followed the original Cars, which premiered in 2006. Although Pixar had made several successful feature films before then, its earlier stories had not yet received direct theatrical sequels. The Toy Story films later became a major sequel series, but Toy Story 2 came before Cars 2 and therefore was not Pixar's first sequel.
Cars 2 changes the franchise's scale and genre. Lightning McQueen enters the World Grand Prix, while Mater becomes entangled in an international espionage plot. The story travels through locations including Tokyo, Porto Corsa, and London.
John Lasseter and Brad Lewis directed Cars 2. The film was released in the United States on June 24, 2011. Its spy-focused plot made it notably different from the original film's small-town racing and coming-of-age story.