Jeep is launching a direct rival to Nissan’s Juke in a move the brand hopes will help treble sales within three years. The Jeep Renegade will launch into the hotly-contested compact crossover market in the first quarter of 2015. It is expected to be a major volume seller, with Jeep looking to increase its 2013 UK sales figures of just 2,200 cars to over 6,000 before the end of 2016. This ambitious growth programme comes just two years after Jeep considered quitting the UK after almost half its network served notice on the franchise. In June 2012 23 dealers decided they were losing too much money to continue with Jeep, leaving the remaining 31 outlets covering only 58% of the brand’s targeted UK markets. Steve Zanlunghi, UK chief executive and managing director of Jeep’s now parent group Fiat, admitted that at that point the…