Cars 2 is the first Pixar Cars movie to feature a major international spy plot.
Released in 2011, Cars 2 expands the series beyond the American racing and small-town setting of the original Cars. Its story combines the World Grand Prix with espionage involving Finn McMissile, Holley Shiftwell, and a conspiracy connected to the alternative fuel Allinol.
Mater becomes central to the spy plot after agents mistake him for an American operative. Lightning McQueen remains the principal racer, but Mater’s international misadventures receive much of the narrative focus. This shift made Cars 2 notably different in tone and structure from the first film.
Cars 3 later returned to a more sports-focused story about Lightning’s career and his relationship with Cruz Ramirez. Cars Toons, meanwhile, is a series of short films rather than a feature-length sequel, so it is not the answer to this question.