BMW and Mercedes-manufacturer Daimler announced a new partnership on Thursday to develop autonomous driving.

Some 1,200 technicians from the two German auto giants will team up in a bid to develop self-driving technology. The engineers will work toward driver-assistance systems, automated driving on highways as well as parking. The firms say the technology will be specified to what industry insiders call SAE level 4.

"Further talks are planned to extend the cooperation to higher levels of automation in urban areas and city centers," BMW said in a joint statement.

SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) levels determine the automation capabilities of vehicles, ranking from zero to five.

Level 4 vehicles can intervene if things go wrong or if there is a system failure. The car can perform all functions itself, although a manual override is available to a driver.

Daimler and BMW said they are targeting 2024 as a key date for installing the technology in cars available to the general public.

The automakers said the cooperation is "non-exclusive" and partner manufacturers and technology firms will take part in the work.

They added that the results won't be kept secret and other firms can see the conclusions "under license."