BMW and Daimler will jointly develop and purchase seat frames as part of a cooperation agreement designed to save costs, BMW said on Sunday.

The cooperation will focus on metal seat frames for some of their premium car models, with the exterior finish still done independently, a BMW spokesman said, confirming a report that will appear in German weekly Der Spiegel this week.

In cooperation talks, BMW and Daimler decided in future to jointly develop and purchase the structures of seats for some of their models, a spokesman said, adding that the cooperation could be expanded in the future.

The companies are in talks to create savings for premium auto brands Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

In an advance copy of its Monday edition, Spiegel said the companies would invest a double digit million euros amount in the project, which could yield up to 200 million euros ($257.5 million) in annual savings.

The companies have identified a double-digit number of components that could be jointly purchased among auto suppliers, the spokesman said.

($1=.7766 Euro)

(Reporting by Irene Preisinger; writing by Edward Taylor; editing by Karen Foster)