By 2008, another bout of bruising competition could begin as significant numbers of new aircraft start arriving, potentially swelling the domestic fleet.

G.M. and the other big American producers, Ford and Chrysler, could little afford a strike in the face of bruising competition from foreign automakers like Toyota and Honda.

Confronted with bruising competition both at home and in global markets, Mr. Breuer decided months ago that he could not afford to sit still.

Thanks to bruising competition, profits from commercial banking in Germany have long been anemic.

For now, however, developers and their agents in West Midtown are in a bruising competition.

E.D.S. was still adjusting to bruising competition from I.B.M., which had barged onto its turf in 1991 with aggressive bids for contracts that had long gone to the Texas company.

Battle for the Suburbs The move follows a bruising competition between The Daily News and The Journal and Constitution for readers in Atlanta's affluent and rapidly growing northern suburbs.

Even from a distance, you can feel the industry's mass hysteria rising as the studios gear up for a summer of bruising competition among 60 or so films.

He said he agrees with Empire's assessment that the company's financial problems are largely the result of bruising competition from commercial insurers.

What is more, after years of bruising competition in its core long-distance business, A.T.&T. has stopped its loss of market share and even raised prices, increasing its profitability.