Who is the main villain, Miles Axlerod or Professor Zündapp, in Pixar’s Cars 2?

Miles Axlerod is the main villain of Pixar’s Cars 2. He is a former oil baron who presents himself as a reformed electric-car advocate.

Axlerod creates the World Grand Prix to promote Allinol, a new alternative fuel. His hidden plan is to make Allinol vehicles explode when exposed to electromagnetic pulses, discrediting the fuel and increasing demand for his own oil interests.

Professor Zündapp, voiced by Thomas Kretschmann, is Axlerod’s principal collaborator and a major field operative. Because Zündapp appears frequently among the spies and weapons, viewers sometimes identify him as the main villain.

At the end of the film, Axlerod’s plot is exposed and his participation is revealed. Cars 2 shifts the series toward international espionage, with Lightning McQueen and Mater traveling through Japan, Italy, and England.