A man is dead and five other people are in hospital after a two-car crash in Melbourne's north in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Emergency services were called to Greenvale when a Volkswagen Golf and a Mitsubishi Lancer collided at the intersection of Aitken Boulevard and Lysterfield Drive in just before 2.10am.

A male passenger of the Golf – who is yet to be identified – died at the scene.

The male driver of that vehicle and two female passengers were taken to hospital, as were two male occupants of the Lancer. All five had non-life threatening injuries.

Aitken Boulevard and Lysterfield Drive were closed to traffic as Major Collision Unit detectives were sent to investigate the crash. Police are appealing for any witnesses.

The unidentified man was the 192nd person to die on Victorian roads in 2018. In 2017, the road tally for the year was 259 people dead.