Cars was Pixar's seventh feature film in the studio's original release sequence.
Before Cars arrived in 2006, Pixar had released Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. Cars followed those six films and became the studio's seventh theatrical feature.
The film was directed by John Lasseter, with Joe Ranft and other collaborators contributing to the story. It also marked Pixar's move into a world populated almost entirely by vehicles, while retaining themes of friendship, personal growth, and community.
Counting can become confusing because Pixar has produced shorts, television material, co-productions, and later films in addition to its theatrical features. The answer refers specifically to the studio's numbered feature-film release order, not to the number of Cars productions or the number of films in the Cars franchise.