Which Pixar Cars film introduced the World Grand Prix?

Cars 2 introduced the World Grand Prix.

The World Grand Prix is a three-race international competition created by Miles Axlerod to promote Allinol, an alternative fuel. Lightning McQueen is invited to compete, and Mater accompanies him. The event takes the characters beyond Radiator Springs and places them in a story involving spies, sabotage, and an international criminal conspiracy.

The races take place in Tokyo, Porto Corsa, and London. The change in setting gives Cars 2 a much broader scale than the original film, which centers on a small American town and a local racing championship. Mater becomes involved in the spy plot after being mistaken for an intelligence agent, while Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell investigate the attacks.

Cars introduced the fictional Piston Cup, and Cars 3 returned to McQueen’s struggle within that racing world. Cars 2 is therefore the franchise entry specifically associated with the World Grand Prix. The film was released in 2011 as Pixar’s first theatrical sequel to Cars.