Cars 2 was the first Pixar Cars film to use a spy-adventure story.
Released in 2011, Cars 2 sends Mater and Lightning McQueen around the world for the World Grand Prix. Mater is mistaken for a secret agent and becomes involved with Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell, two British intelligence cars investigating a plot connected to the race series.
This structure distinguishes Cars 2 from the first film's small-town coming-of-age story and Cars 3's sports drama. It combines international racing with gadgets, disguises, explosions, and espionage references inspired by spy films. Mater, rather than Lightning, is the main viewpoint character in much of the story.
John Lasseter and Brad Lewis directed Cars 2. The film was Pixar's twelfth feature and was released in stereoscopic 3D. Its global locations include Tokyo, Porto Corso, and London, expanding the fictional world beyond Radiator Springs.
Cars 3 later returned to a more racing-centered tone. Cars on the Road is a television series rather than a feature film, so it is not the second movie in the Cars trilogy.