A parking lot at Australia's biggest retail complex has been evacuated after a car burst into flames, damaging other vehicles and forcing shoppers to abandon cars full of gifts and food.

Key points: Police say the fire was caused by a vehicle fault

Police say the fire was caused by a vehicle fault No-one was injured

No-one was injured The rest of the shopping complex continued to trade

Firefighters were called to Chadstone Shopping Centre, in Melbourne's south-east, just after 1:30pm after a fire broke out on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) said more than 12 fire trucks and 40 firefighters worked to contain the blaze, and brought it under control just before 2:30pm.

MFB commander Paul Illman said the fire started in one car and damaged at least 10 others.

"The damage is significant, there's at least 11 cars involved and there's significant damage to the actual car park itself," he said.

The car park was closed until further notice. ( Facebook: MoyraDom Pinto )

Commander Illman said the owner of the car had reported noticing smoke coming from the vehicle when they turned off the engine.

"They got out of the car quickly, and before they knew it, it was in flames," he said.

In a statement, Victoria Police said the fire was believed to have been caused by a vehicle fault.

Part of the shopping centre was also evacuated because of smoke, police said.

The rest of the shopping complex was not affected and continued to trade.

At least 11 cars were damaged in the fire. ( ABC News )

'Hop out of your car and get out of the car park'

Natasha Ryan and her father, Tim, had just pulled into a park at the shopping centre when an alarm started ringing.

"We were the last car into the car park and the alarms just started as soon as we came in," Ms Ryan, 25, said.

"Then it started saying 'emergency, evacuate' and a security guard came and said, 'Hop out of your car and get out of the car park'."

Police said the fire was started by a mechanical fault. ( ABC News )

Her father, Tim Ryan, said he initially thought a car alarm had gone off.

"There was a massive amount of smoke billowing out on the open car park … followed by a whole series of bangs I was told by the security guy were tyres exploding," Mr Ryan, 65, said.

The father and daughter had to leave their car at Chadstone, full of Christmas presents and groceries, including raw chicken.

"Bit annoying but what can you do?" Ms Ryan said. "At least we're safe and no-one's harmed."

The fire was contained to a section of car park on the western side of the centre, Victoria Police said.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control shortly before 2:30pm. ( ABC News )

Centre apologises as cars blocked off

No-one was injured in the fire.

Level P1 of the car park was evacuated and the car park was closed at all levels as a precaution.

Later in the afternoon, firefighters declared the area safe and people were allowed to return to their cars.

Earlier, the centre apologised to shoppers for the inconvenience.

"We apologise to customers and retailers who have been waiting patiently to access their vehicles," the centre said.

"We understand Christmas is a busy time of year and we have been working hard to get them back to their cars as soon as possible.

Ms Ryan praised shopping centre management's response to the incident.

"Everyone was really calm and really polite and trying to help you as much as possible, so I thought they handled it really well," she said.