Just how bad were things at Fisker before they ceased production, laid off their staff and got hauled before Congress over all the money they borrowed? Much worse than you might have imagined, according to a new special report from Reuters.

What do Carbon Motors' BMW-powered police car, Aptera Motors' electric three wheeler, and Fisker's luxury sedan have in common? Two things: they asked the government for loans, and they're dead, as are more than half of the car companies who sought loans, according to documents obtained via a Freedom of Information…

This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?

Fiskers are efficient luxury hybrids. Former GM Exec Bob Lutz didn't like that, so he had the hybrid system ripped out, threw in a supercharged V8, and the VL Destino was born. Now, with Fisker doing poorly, VL has reportedly put in a bid to buy the company. V8 Karmas for everyone!

The U.S government's green car program has been under scrutiny with the recent failure of two of the companies that received the loan, including coverage of a $675 million lawsuit by an inventor claiming he was denied funding for his inflatable electric car company because of politics. What hasn't gotten much scrutiny …

Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today took turns alternately hammering or defending the U.S. Department of Energy's loans to sinking hybrid manufacturer Fisker Automotive. Not much was revealed about Fisker's current status, but there was plenty of what Congress is best at: partisan…

It hasn't been a very good week for flagging Fisker Automotive, but then again, neither have the last few weeks. On Monday they failed to make a scheduled $10 million loan repayment to the U.S. Department of Energy, and today, they will be brought before a Congressional oversight panel.

Nobody seem to know what to do with Lincoln, which is just getting over its amazingly dull Superbowl ad failure. What if they merged with another totally-screwed carmaker, Fisker?

Here's a nice warm thought in case you're an American who filed your taxes recently: soon-t0-be-failed luxury hybrid manufacturer Fisker Automotive was allowed to receive loan money from the U.S. Department of Energy even after they violated the terms on multiple occasions, according to a new report.

This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?