William J. Young, president and chief executive...

William J. Young, president and chief executive of Volkswagen of America, quit Tuesday, apparently the latest casualty in a far-reaching management shake-up of Europe’s largest auto maker.

Young, 50, will return to an automotive consulting business he started in Los Angeles in 1983.

Young’s resignation, which caught Auburn Hills-based Volkswagen of America by surprise, was the latest in a series of moves that so far have mainly affected its German parent.

“This is curious in that it is coming ahead of a lot more changes,” said Christopher Will, an auto industry analyst in the London office of Lehman Bros. Inc. “It may be a few months yet before we see the strategy behind all that is happening.”

Young, who began his career at Volkswagen in 1971, left the company in 1983 to form W.J. Young & Associates. He rejoined Volkswagen in 1989 as vice president in charge of Volkswagen United States.