A device for positioning components to be joined together, such as car body components, is characterized by at least one movable central module and a plurality of arms, movable in space and connected thereto and which in each case have at least one holding element for holding the components. By means of the inventive method for the positioning of the components to be joined together and for the performance of which the said device is particularly suitable, the components are held from a position within a desired arrangement of the components to be joined. In this way the assembled components during a subsequent tacking together and optionally further downstream production processes such as welding or the like, are accessible in optimum manner from the outside. Further advantages of the method according to the invention are a limited space requirement and possible balancing of the production process.